Heirs: Part 3
by Schmidtinho
Summary: I'll take my place. I'll face my past. Finally being able to defeat the demons of hi past, Simba can look forward to a live of peace. But an old pact brings the pride lands at the edge of war and Simba is unable to prevent his home from facing defeat. But that is about to change when a new player enters the game.
1. The devil's apprentice

Hello and good evening! ;)

So this is it. The big one. Part 3 of Heirs.

A few words at the beginning.

Of course a big thank you to all of you who have stayed with me or joined me with this fic so far, to those who commented, who added this story to their favourites and those who put them on their alerts. But I also thank those who clicked on the story and took their time to read it or at least decided to overview it. I really appreciate evry reader that is out there and follows the weekly updates.

By entering this part, we have reached the story that I usually and originally wanted to write when I first thought about making a Lion King fanfic. Like I said back at the beginning of Part 1, the back-story and the masses of characters that are taking part in this story would have been so big and wide spread that it would have taken too much time to establish.

A little warning. I decided to raise the rating for this one since this third part will have yet a raise in violence and creepiness later on. Also I have to warn you that this could get a little weird at some point.

Since this story has changed a lot since the first time I thought this out, I give you a few info's on what I had originally planned for characters and scenes.

But enough said… I wish you all fun reading this sucker…

* * *

**Heirs **

Part 3: I'll take my place; I'll face my past

Chapter 1: The devil's apprentice

_The sun is shining_

Indeed the sun was shining as far as she could be seen appearing on the horizon. Once again the kingdom in the middle of the African savannah called the pride lands awoke by the first streaks of the sun touching the land of king Simba.

_The children laughing, playing. Full of dreams… to find_

Herds of zebras, antelopes and impalas raised their heads to the sky and heard the call coming from the distance. All obeyed and moved out to receive the big news. A group of okapis rested beside a waterhole as various younglings jumped around and played with each other as their parents watched with joy.

_They all remind me, when I was a little boy. Full of life and pride_

Elephants called and raised their snouts making everyone be aware of their presence. Up ahead, hordes of monkeys jumped through various sorts of trees following the directions of the herds below. From the top of a hill nearby, a little group of cheetahs observed the young and playful gazelles passing by and got up from their position to follow the rest of the animals.

_They look so peaceful, Moshanyana weso bo' itumele_

Like so many times before, the pride lands got to their feet to take a look at the new addition to the royal family of their kingdom.

_So sweet and graceful. Ngwana weso bo' ithabise_

Pride rock was held in the warm golden light of the morning as little clouds of fog lay over the grassy fields in front. From up ahead, the huge golden furred male with his red mane observed the land below and smiled proudly. His auburn eyes rested on the groups of various animals making their way closer to the home of the king and queen.

_They're all so hopeful. Moshanyana weso bo' itumel_e

Never in his life would Simba have expected that this day would come, he slightly remembered the first time he sat together with his father on the top of pride rock and remembered Mufasa telling him about all of this once belonging to him. Yet he could never have imagined himself to become a father or even a grandfather.

_And there is no need for crying. No need for fighting_

He glanced a little to the back and noticed a female lioness walking up to him. She was about in the same age as him and her face spilled warmth and comfort as she approached the king. Her fur was of a cream color and her eyes had an aqua tint to them. They met each other and rubbed their heads together while closing their eyes to enjoy this moment as long as it lasted.

_It's time. Ithabise_

King Simba and Nala ruled over the pride lands with care and heart. The two made a perfect couple, a friendship that lasted for eight years now, and a relationship as mates that was lasting for five years. Their love for each other brought and guided them through each crisis that has appeared in their lives. And trust me when I say, those were really big crisis's.

_And this is meant to be your day_

Licking each other on the cheek, they turned around and saw two other lions walking up to them, one of them female with a cream/golden fur and brownish-red eyes. The other one was dark brown with green eyes and a black mane. Each one of them carried a small bundle of fur in their mouths. Nala and Simba glared adored at the sight of the fresh born cubs.

_Shine, Ithabise_

They both greeted their daughter as well as their son in law before carefully licking the cubs on their backs. Simba pointed with his nose to the end of the ledge emerging from the giant rock formation as a signal for the two to move forward. While the king and queen kept their adored faces and sat in the back. Kiara and Kovu looked at each other nervously before moving forward. By now, huge crowds had gathered in front of the 'castle' and stared upwards to the royal family.

_And in your heart you'll know it's time. Ithabise _

A blue hornbill landed directly at the feet of the king and bowed for a short moment with Simba giving him a questioning look. Zazu nodded his head and pointed to the distance where the animals were starting to divide in the middle.

_For you to take your place. Ithabise _

It didn't take long and an old mandrill made his way through the crowd slowly climbing up to the ledge. In one of his hands, he carried a stick with several fruits hanging on it. Slowly, he reached the top and stared over at the four lions. Right away, he walked towards the king and hugged him gently before doing the same with the queen.

_Somtimes I wonder_

He gave a short smile over to the rest of the pride looking from the distance and turned around to face the princess and her mate. After hugging them to, he grabbed his stick again while the two young lions lied down and placed the cubs into embraces inside their front legs.

Why people always seem to turn around

Waiving his stick over the cubs's head, he mumbled a few words and placed both his hand on their foreheads. After that, the mandrill took one of the fruits he brought with him and raised it upwards before cracking it in half. From each one of the halves, he took some juice in both his hands and brushed his thumb over the two little foreheads.

_Be grateful for this day and make a change_

Kiara and Kovu smiled happily as they watched him spraying some dust from the rocky earth over the little ones heads. Just like so many heirs to the throne, they sneezed as the sand hit their noses which caused both parents to giggle a little.

_To be peaceful. Moshanyana weso bo' itumele_

The mandrill pulled the male cub with the brown fur on his shoulder and walked again to the edge of the ledge where he could see the giant commotion of animals waiting for the new prince to be shown to the public. And then he raised the little lion into the air with the crowd below roaring and calling out in joy.

_And to be hopeful. Ngwana weso bo' ithabis_e

Monkeys on top of the elephants jumped around hysterical with wildebeests in front of them stomping their feet into the ground. Birds set flight and filled the air with their colorful feathers. The mandrill sunk its arms and moved the young one back to his mother's lab before grabbing the female with the golden fur and carried her as well.

_It's sweet and graceful. Moshanyana weso bo' itmuele_

Zebras and antelopes called out, giraffes swung their necks back and forth wile cheetahs and leopards roared out in happiness. The cub up ahead tried to struggle free as she was a bit scared seeing how high she was hanging above the earth, even though she could compute with what was going on around her. But anyway, she was glad as the old monkey carried her back into the arms of her father.

_And there is no need for crying. No need for fighting_

Kiara's parents walked over to them once again and nuzzled both royal heirs as they smiled down on their grandchildren. The cream/golden princess rubbed her head against her mate and the little male cub in her arms tried to grab on to his father's mane. They stood there quite a while until most of the animals had separated as a sign for the ceremony to be over.

_In your heart you'll know it's time. Ithabise_

The pride had already moved to the back of pride rock and left the king and queen as well as the princess and her mate alone with the new additions to their family. Simba lowered is head and came close with his muzzle to the brown cub in Kiara's paws. The golden colored male sniffed shortly before the green eyes of the cub lit open and it grabbed with her paws at his whiskers. He pulled at it and Simba himself pulled away from his grandson. The other three laughed as they saw the little surprised face of their king. "Feisty little guy!" He said and eyed his mate Nala again. "I can't believe that I am a grandfather. I feel so old."

Nala to his side jerked back her head and smirked slyly at him. "You're feeling old, what do I have to say? I'm even older than you!" She added pushing her paw against her husband's shoulder. "I happy for you two after all." The older female continued to say which caused Kovu and Kiara to nod their heads in thanks.

Together, the four followed their pride before departing just a few feet away from the others. Simba and Nala stood back as her daughter alongside her new family left the group probably to turn back to their den where she kept the little cubs safe for the first few weeks. "I remember back when I was that young!" Simba then again mentioned which caused the queen to frown at the sudden statement.

"I highly doubt that!" She said before raising her eyebrows and looking at the king with a sly face. "What is with you and that certain need to tell us that you getting old? Is it just because of the two young ones to be around… or is there something else?" She asked giving him a look of challenge and playfulness.

Simba stared at her not wanting to admit it but… he felt indeed old. He turned eight years by now and he could feel his muscles not getting healthier at all. Come to think of it, he found it more difficult to wander through the kingdom. His paws were not carrying him as easy as they used to. And his senses were not as sharp back when he freshly took the throne. But that was something he didn't want to tell Nala, right now, even if some would call that false pride after all. "Somehow… yes! Look at our little girl, she has become a mother herself and starts accepting the fact that she is soon to be ruler of this kingdom. It makes me reflect on my own life."

Somehow she knew it and even though Nala hated to admit it herself. She as well took a resume of her life as well. "What do you know, there's some truth after all in the old head of yours." She challenged her mate and rubbed her paw through his red mane. "Seeing little Shani and Chaka makes me wish mom would be here." She then added bowing her head a little and letting her ears drop.

The king knew that not only the death of her mother, but also the passing of Ni had struck the cream female hard. Like Simba, there were no older relatives of her left. Yet both of the royal couple knew that the older cram lioness lived her last years on this earth in the peace she searched and deserved.

"I'm sure she is still with you, just like the great kings!" They heard a voice call out and both turned around to see and old looking lioness smiling at them. She had a beige coat with red eyes that were looking tired and wise. Simba and Nala knew this lioness from their early days on. It was Kimae, one of the last ones that were left from the time where numerous prides wandered through the kingdom and filled the air with their roars. She was a loyal subject to Mufasa and even to Simba.

The golden furred king gave her a quick welcome before he sat down and Nala spoke up. "I guess you're right there Kimae." She said before she narrowed her eyes. "Can we help you with something?" The cream female asked concerned knowing that it had become rare for the beige lioness to walk up to them just this bold. Usually she tried to deal with her problems herself.

Kimae looked back to where Kovu and Kiara had disappeared moments ago and smiled back at Simba and Nala with warmth in her eyes. "Nothing that dramatic. I just wanted to talk, seeing how I now visited four of your generations being presented, I felt a little discomfort overcoming me." Nala knew what she meant and had almost forgotten about the fact that Kimae herself had been a mother once. The only difference was that her cub turned out to be a giant psychopath which tried to kill one of her friends.

"It's just that you just became grandparents yourself and I never even got the chance to become one!" She said with a heavy heart and Nala walked over to her immediately. She wrapped her front legs around the older female and embraced her gently. Yet the sudden outburst of Kimae made the queen think about what ever happened to the beige cub Jiwe.

* * *

_Bright and dark images were moving inside his head as crazy as he tried to stay asleep._

"_Hey Jiwe, can I play with your bone?" She asked with joy and reached out her paw to grab the little object._

"_Sure! Why not!" He answered and giggled a little._

_Another bright flash brought up another memory and he found himself walking along the cream, yellow and golden figures around him. "Mom, where is…" But he already saw the one he was looking for and how she was walking with two other cubs. Disappointed and shyly, he walked away to get comfortable on a stone. His gaze wandered around to a pale cream cub sitting around with a grumpy face. _

_Another flash of light and he found himself in the grasp of the pale cream cub and could feel his eye hurting extremely badly. He could see a beige lioness pulling the other one away from him as he rushed into the open arms of his mother. _

_The scene blurred away and as it got clear again, he saw the same female cubs from earlier on playing around with each other while he continued to stare into a reflection of himself showing in the waterhole. _

_Another bright flash and he could several lions, lionesses and cubs standing around him as his heart was pumping with rage and anger. "He he tried to kill me!" He said and heard a female already shouting out to him. _

"_HE TRIED TO DROWN ME!"_

_His ears fell flat to the side as he could see his whole world falling apart in front of him._

_The next image he saw was a brown/red male standing in front of him and smirking at him with delight. __"If you still want to have revenge on them, I can show you how; do you want me to help you?"_

"HA!" He awoke with a loud gasp and pulled his head upwards. His heart was pumping wildly and his eyes searched around the den he was lying in right now. From his point he could see the dark night outside. As he tried to get to his paws, he felt movement against his right side and turned around to find a beige colored lioness with green eyes staring at him sleepy.

"Did you have a bad dream?" She asked gently and raised her head as well to get their eyes to meet each other.

Although he hated to act harsh and upset, he was unable to hold it back this time. "My whole life is a bad dream." He got to his feet and walked away from her. "I know some don't believe me but... at some point I really tried to escape my past. And now, for two years I am trapped in the same nightmare that my life had been before."

The lioness stretched herself trying to get awake quickly before she walked over to him at the mouth of the den. The two faced each other and she put her paws on his cheeks. "She really did break your heart?" She asked and tried to keep his gaze locked on her. "And you still have feelings for her!?"

He closed his eyes trying to gather his thoughts and what would be the best for him to say in this moment. "No she didn't, when it came down to the core, I didn't even have a heart that could have been broken." He answered with the same booming and angry voice. He raised his head again and faced the lioness. "And no... There's nothing that could make me trade you for her." He added in a rather caring and honest voice.

The female once again smiled and put their foreheads together. "Oh Jiwe!"

But right at once, the he got serious and angry again and pulled away for a few moments. "Don't call me Jiwe. I left that name and that life behind when I left the pride lands. The lion named Jiwe doesn't exist anymore." He was eager to make it clear to her and walked once again to the outside and stared out into the night.

"Only to trade in it for the same name in a different language!?" She responded and rolled her eyes for a short moment without Jiwe realizing. He turned around and made clear that he was not amused by that statement. "If it makes you happy... Ithse?" She finally admitted and the beige lion relaxed giving her an apologising nuzzle.

Yet Ithse couldn't help but think back to the memories and the event that followed his path to the north lands.

_[seven years ago]_

Jiwe looked back and forth between pride rock, his king and the sky. His mind wandered back to the cubs back at home, to how much he had changed since his birth. Then he took a look on the red/brown male in front and he thought about his proposal moments ago. And then a smile appeared on his face. "I'm all ears!" The beige furred cub answered at the adult male in front of him while Scar put on a satisfied face.

"Excellent!" He answered and put a paw on the cubs head before ordering him to follow him. The unlikely duo wandered through the night of the pride lands. Jiwe noticed the grass slowly dying all around him. Yet he didn't really pay that much attention, his focus was more on the full grown king in front of him. The beige cub listened carefully to what Scar had to say. "You remind me a lot of myself when I was your age." He started to say and smiled down on the cub with his green eyes piercing him on the spot. "Yet like I said, you lack the mind to do what is necessary to achieve all your goals.

The two stopped and Scar turned around pulling the cub closer to him. "So... my little friend. I got to ask you... what is it that you desire most in life?" He asked with a smirk that shot right through the little bit scared cub to his feet.

For a moment, Jiwe thought about what to say. He knew what he desired most but... could he say that to the king. Was it even the same which the brown/red male wanted to hear? Compared with the duties of king Scar, his own desires seemed rather childish, even considered the fact that he was still a child. He looked to the ground and simply gasped. "Kula!"

Scar chuckled a little seeing the vulnerability of the cub in front of him. "I see!" He smirked before he began circling around the young beige lion. "But is there anything else you would like to have one day?" The king looked down on Jiwe who by now never took his eyes off the older male. "I see you're having trouble getting what I mean." Scar added before coming to a halt again. "When you open your eyes for the bigger things in life, the small things like your little problem with that lady get solved by themselves."

_Bigger things!? What bigger things? I'm just a cub. _"What do you mean by bigger things, what can someone like me have to do with bigger things?" Jiwe countered with a question by himself. Though he wanted to see what Scar had to say, still he didn't seem to get what the king wanted from him.

"Power, influence, everything that will put you in a position that ensures you being looked up to from everyone." Now the beige cub finally got the idea. Yet what was missing was the determination and the desire. "Did you never look up to Simba and wanted to be blessed with a similar gift than him? To have the same privileges than him and be admired by him?"

It was a bit uncomforting for the young lion to talk about the dead prince right now, he knew that Kula and the others were all his friends and Jiwe used to hate seeing them be depressed about the dead prince as well as the king. "I never had a problem with Simba, he was an okay guy." The beige young male answered shrugging his shoulder.

Scar put his paw to his chin and smirked a little. _He has not changed completely. There is still something pulling him back to the helpful and nice cub he used to be. _"This isn't about Simba, this is about you. Like I said, I can show you how to get real power. And once you get that, you can have everything you desire." Scar continued with his suave and manipulative voice and Jiwe could sense the desire for power becoming more and more delicate to him.

To the beige cub, the idea of having some sort of control over others would make them forget about his physical damage, and especially with the newfound hate coming from the other cubs. "But… the others won't expect me as their supreme. And my mom…" He started to talk but was silenced immediately by Scar's face being on the same level as the cub.

"Do you honestly think, they want you back after what you did? They will never even look at you without any sort of respect." There was a slight chuckle in the king's voice as he told him the circumstances about him being in the pride lands. "Your _education_… has to take place somewhere far away from the pride lands. Somewhere we can work on your mind without the distraction of the kingdom around us."

Immediately, Jiwe eras fell flat to his head as he thought about of his mother. "But… what about my mom?" He asked the same question out loud he kept asking himself.

But Scar kept stern and smiled at him. "I'm sorry!" He simply said and the beige cub bowed his head a bit more. Scar put a paw on his back and shoved Jiwe forward to go even far more into the distance. "Now come along my little student, we have a lot of work to do."

* * *

Over the next weeks and months, Scar did everything possible to corrupt the young cub's mind and filling his heart with the same darkness he held in his own. The only ones that were aware of the king's plan to train Jiwe were Zira and the three hyenas which seemed to be Scar's most loyal servants. While most of the hyenas had migrated to the pride lands, some stayed behind and still wandered through the elephant graveyards.

The now being over a year old beige lion sat on a rock just beside a duo of geysers with green light coming out of it. His eyes were set directly on the red/brown male in front of him who kept padding back and forth as he talked to the young lion. "Now remember, the key to achieve your goals is not by strength and force." He called out to the young lions still staring at him.

"In order to get to real power, you have to use your head and your mind. The key is manipulating other people just to the way you need them." He smirked coming to a halt just behind him. "That was something that Mufasa and my father never understood. You don't fight your conflicts openly and up front." He stopped and sat down in front of Jiwe and smirked even more. "You pull your strings in the back and let others take the blame for events you set in motion."

Like so many times before, Jiwe listened carefully to every word the adult male was saying. "So… your alliance with the hyenas is purely out of you needing them after all. I thought that they really were your partners." He mentioned looking around to see if anyone of the grey colored animals was nearby ear peaking on them.

Scar laughed out a little before he could go back to stare at his student sternly. "When it comes to real power, you don't have any friends, you can't afford any friends. Friendship is something that makes you emotional and weak. All they want from you once you're in a position higher than them, is to get something from you… and possibly taking it from you."

Jiwe let his head drop for a moment, when it came down to the bottom line, he wanted to have friends, he wanted to be accepted back in the pride and by the other young lions. But could he really if what Scar said was true? He looked up and saw Scar staring down on his him with a stern and almost stony face. Then again, if he wanted them to accept him, he had to make them. He looked back into the green eyes of his mentor with determination and repeated. "When it comes down to ruler ship, no regrets, no feelings, no commitment!" He answered and the king smiled satisfied.

_[months later]_

It was a cloudy day and the sun over a forest almost couldn't make it through the thick cover of clouds lying over the land. The wind strived through the huge tree crowns of a small forest. Two male lions lied on the top of a rocky ledge that emerged from the grassy field. Both were about the same age with one having dark golden fur and the other one with dark cream fur. Both of them had their eyes directed into the distance where a small path through the forest made a sharp turn to the right.

"You think he will come?" One of them with the dark golden fur asked as he rested his head on his paws.

The other one scratched the side of his stomach with his left back leg and stared upwards to the sky. "He would be a fool not to come." He answered and rubbed his head over the floor in order to make the itching go away. It was clear to anybody that the two were on the look-out for someone. By narrowing his eyes, the dark cream male locked his eyes on the corner in the distance and spotted two colored spots lurking around it.

Both of them immediately recognized the figure in front and their face straightened up at once. The one with the dark cream fur went to his feet. He made a sign to us comrade and the two padded back around the back of the ledge trying to catch the strangers by surprise. Glancing around another tree in the back, they got a better look at the two creatures. The first one was yet another full grown male lion with a brown/red fur and a black mane. His eyes were stitching green and he had small pieces of fur on his elbows.

The other one was a smaller male lion, maybe a year and a few months old with beige fur and yellow eyes, one of his eyes had turned red due to some injury he must have sustained. A brown mane started to appear around his neck and covered some pieces of yet another scar running around his throat.

Jiwe for his part was a bit unsettled by this whole trip they were taking. Scar broke the news of sending him away a few days ago. He didn't know what to expect when it came to spending his future in a completely different pride, not to say… kingdom. Even though he had not lived in the pride lands for months and only spend his days in the elephant graveyard, he still had some reserve leaving his pride and his home behind. Yet Scar was very specific about this plan of his so Jiwe didn't complain.

It didn't take long and the duo of pridelanders could hear mumblings behind them. Something that made Jiwe jerk around and go into a defensive stance. He narrowed down his eyes and growled slightly before the king put a paw upwards to silence his student. Before Jiwe could react a bit more, the two lions that observing them came into view and Scar eased up at once.

"Did anyone follow you?" The dark golden one asked glancing around and sniffing the air for anything or anyone smelling strange and not in place.

Scar shook his head in denial and the dark cream one turned his head around and gave a nod towards a bush nearby. Jiwe watched with interest and curiosity as he could see movement coming from behind the plant. Moments later, a male and a female lion stepped out and revealed themselves to the group. His brown fur and his black mane indicated high authority. But what set the beige young lion really off were his piercing green eyes. If he could allow himself to, he would have shrugged back with respect and fear. But Jiwe stood his ground and waited patiently for the things to happen.

Scar and the strange lion met midway and gave each other an acknowledging nod. "Scar!" Was the first thing the brown male lion said. His voice was cold and calculating. In some way, it was how Jiwe first met Scar, yet this guy seemed to have a less sinister tone to it than his mentor.

"Isitha!" The king of the pride lands answered with the same expression. He then turned his head around and gave the young beige lion a sign to come forward.

Jiwe did as he was told and stopped just beside the brown/red male as he held his head up high. For a short moment, Isitha's and Jiwe's eyes locked on each other and the young male could feel an ice cold shiver run down his spine. But then again, he was not afraid. He was ready for the things Scar wanted him to do.

"Is this the boy?" Isitha continued to ask and observed the young beige lion from paws to head.

The female in the back hadn't said anything up to that point before she went forth and padded around the young male to get a better look. "Hmm." She started and Jiwe kept his eyes straight ahead without paying any attention to her. "He doesn't look that strong if you ask me." She continued to say before she put a paw to his chin and moved his head from side to side. "Do you really think he is the right one for our purposes?"

Jiwe would have pulled away immediately if the king of the pride lands hadn't told him to stay relaxed and calm no matter what would happen. Scar eyed the lioness and Isitha before he answered. "You didn't ask for a fighter! You wanted someone who could help you break the other pride's spirit and pull them under your rule." He said and Isitha nodded in agreement. "Jiwe here is just the thing that you need to unify your kingdom… to unify OUR kingdom." Scar put more weight onto his last words making Isitha understand which part he was playing in there deal.

"Well well!" The brown male finally said. "Then I think we have nothing more to discuss. See you soon your highness." Isitha didn't hide the fact that he was mocking the king of the pride lands.

"I would say the same about you but… you don't have that much of a kingdom anymore!" Scar answered full aware of what situation the brown male in front of him was. He gave Jiwe a little nod which he returned and then the king of the pride lands disappeared into the same direction he came from.

Jiwe looked after him but quickly turned around towards his new home and his new life. He walked alongside the king and presumably the queen while he tried to get acquainted with his surroundings. "Since you are no longer a part of the pride lands…" The king suddenly said out loud and twisted his head into the direction of the young beige lion. "You need a name that is not of pride land origin, you need a name that is from the north lands." He went in before he asked once again. "What does Jiwe stand for anyway."

"Stone!" The younger male replied simply.

Isitha puzzled for a few moments before he answered. "Aha… In our kingdom, we have a word for that too. What do you think of Itshe?"

Giving away the name of his birth, the name his mother gave him didn't seem like such a good idea. Yet he knew what he had to do and quickly coped with the idea. "If you think it is the right thing to do your majesty I accept being called by a new name." He answered and made the king smile a little bit. With a stern and narrow gaze, he followed the royal family and their two followers into the depths of this new kingdom.

* * *

Using every trick and everything else that Scar ever taught him, Jiwe soon managed to accept and be accepted as a valuable member of the king's pride. His ability of plotting and manipulating helped the king to gain control of the other prides and soon be called king Isitha, king of the north lands again. But not only did he change the structure of power in the north lands, but he also himself in the process. Every day he learned something new about diplomacy and negotiation which he tried to use as often as he could around his new home.

Over the next year, he barely received any news about how his home pride was doing and how Scar was fulfilling his part of the deal he made years ago with Isitha. And in some, he was glad to finally being able to leave his old life behind. There was a whole new life waiting for him here and he could sense that the possibilities that were opening themselves for him were sheer endless.

The former pridelander wandered together with a group of lions in about his age through the fields. The group sustained out of three males and two females. Itshe shifted his glance from his left to his right and back as he observed the two males to each of his sides. Both had brown fur with one of them having green eyes and other having blue ones. Since Isitha let him in, he grew up with the king's sons almost as a third brother which made him full aware of how the relationship between Ingozi and Ingelozi had developed during his presence.

It was no secret that the two didn't really like each other. And that caused a lot of disagreements and fights to occur on a regular basis. But yet both males had a high opinion on family bonds and how a family should stick together. Never in his life would Ingozi think of abandoning his brother. And Ingelozi would have never sent his brother away if he needed him. But still, the two spoke as few words as possible to each other and tried to avoid each other as often as they could.

Yet on this day, the trio walked around together and soon found a nice tree where they settled down underneath. The trio observed the landscape in front of them as well as the two females standing in the distance. Both Ingozi and Ingelozi stared over at their beige half-brother and let little smirks appear on their faces. "And… see anything that you like?" The brown male with the green eyes said and nudged Itshe on his shoulder.

The beige ex-pridelander knew exactly what he was referring to and tried to avoid any matter of the subject coming down on him. Yet it was Ingozi who went in and stopped Itshe from replying. "Let it be, we have no business in knowing who he is going to choose as his mate in a few weeks."

Ingelozi rolled his eyes and faced his brother with a disbelieving look before turning his attention back to the beige male in the middle. "You see! That is the difference between me and my brother. Where I am kind to follow the rules of our kingdom, he always has to be this free thinking soul." The younger one of the two princes said those words with a tendency to mocking Ingozi.

But the heir to the throne just, shook his head and faced his brother stern. "Those are rules and laws that had been disabled by our father ever since the pride wars. It was a wise decision to not force male lions into choosing a female that has to obey his wish." He continued to answer and let the side of his head rest on the ground. "Imagine if you were Umoya and Ikhaya, wouldn't you think it to be unfair to be forced to mate with someone you barely know just because you were told to?"

Yet on the other side, Ingelozi stayed in his spot with no intention of backing down from the other prince. "Yet on the same time as you say these words of wisdom, you have already chosen someone that is supposed to be your mate in the future. Don't you see a little hypocrisy in it?" Ingozi kept being unimpressed by this revelation coming from his younger brother. But the brown furred green eyed male could see that he had brought the crown prince out of his countenance.

"You seem to forget my dear brother that Ikhaya has chosen me. I didn't choose her!" Ingozi answered with a smile and caused both males to jerk up their heads in surprise. Seeing how he caught both of them off-guard, he turned his face into a smile and rolled to the side.

Ingelozi for his part stared over to the older one of the two royals as his mouth nearly dropped wide open. "You… and Ikhaya?" He asked still disbelieving while glancing to the side and facing the ground. Completely defeated, the younger prince raised his head again and stared over to the two lionesses as his heart was pumping with disappointment. Everybody who was a bit familiar with body language could tell that he was a little heartbroken. Something that didn't went unnoticed by his brother.

It was in that moment that the two females came wandering over to them as the males greeted them with short nods. Like so many lions in the north lands, the two had brown fur, one with a light brown fur and blue eyes. The other was beige furred and had eyes just as green as the ones of the two princes. Right away, the light brown one settled down beside Ingozi and rubbed her head against his. "What are you doing?" She asked with a friendly yet strong voice before resting her head on her paws. She noticed the other prince slowly turning his head away and smirked to herself.

Itshe for his part glanced into the eyes of the green eyed female and gave away the first honest smile he had to offer in months. The beige furred lioness called Umoya settled down in front of them and right away gave up a cheerful gasp as she saw Ingozi and Ikhaya sitting together. "Isn't that cute?" She said and pointed her nose towards the beige male that once used to be a pridelander.

For the first time since he left the pride lands, his life had changed for the better.

* * *

The same evening, Itshe returned to king's hill finally being able to be satisfied with his life and where he had come up to this point. He was a full accepted member in a new kingdom far away from the life back in the pride lands. He was trusted by king Isitha who held a very high opinion on him. The evening sun stood still high on the horizon and Itshe enjoyed its hot strokes coming down on his fur. Up ahead in the distance to his right, he could see some of king Isitha's consultants standing a few hundred yards away from him.

It had become uncommon in the last days that the king stayed so far away from his home at this time of the day. He couldn't see completely what this was about, so he decided to walk up to it while staying careful. As he approached, he could already hear the voices coming from the group. The northlanders seemed to have settled around an object which he couldn't make out by now. But seeing as how some of them were talking to it, it had to be an animal. It took him another pair of steps closer until he realized that it was a lion the group was talking to. Being curious who this one was, the ex-pridelander continued to approach as he caught the first glimpses of it.

"What brings you here to king's hill?" The king asked with his voice being calm but demanding. Itshe kept close attention to the figure in the middle.

Right then, he saw that it was a male lion with dark brown fur color and a black mane in about his age. The beige lion puzzled for a moment as he found the stranger looking oddly familiar. And then it hit him like buffalo. He immediately recognized him and jumped to the back quickly going out of the way so they could not see him any longer.

It was definitely him, the one lion that had the responsibility for his exile from the pride lands. But what was Chumvi doing here in the middle of the north lands and not back in the pride lands where he was together with his family. The dark brown male started to reply and Itshe listened carefully. "I am humbly asking to be accepted to live in the north lands. My mate and I have come a long way from the pride lands where we had to flee as refugees."

Inside his mind, Itshe had to laugh and curse at the same time. _He must have trained this speech for a long time. That speech would make even me look like an impolite runt_._ It wouldn't surprise me if Kula was the one even teaching him to speak properly to a king. _The moment he thought about the caramel lioness, his face darkened and he realized. _Me and my mate. That means the two are still together. Scar must have tried to rid himself from possible competition for the throne. He should have killed them once he had the chance. _

"You should know that we are known to let strangers from the pride lands into our midst, and we are not even speaking about letting them into our pride." Isitha replied and narrowed down his eyes looking at the young male in front of him.

Yet Chumvi didn't seem to be demoralized or defeated as he answered quickly. "We have no intentions to join your pride. We just ask for the permission to stay here. If you would allow us just to live here, we swear to never willingly interfere with your pride and your rule." He answered doing another bow to make sure the others realized he was serious.

The king turned to the side and put his paw up to his chin. Again, Itshe shook up in alert. _He's really considering it. He can't let those two stay here. Everything could be ruined. _He knew how he reacted the last time he was alongside them. Surely he could calm down his temper by now, but Chumvi and Kula living together with him in the north lands could get him distracted from his future goals. Just when the beige male thought his life had taken a turn for the better, his past was coming back to haunt him.

Right now, the brown furred king faced the dark brown pridelander again and gave away a nod. "Alright, I will allow you and your mate to stay in the north lands. However I can't guarantee you a place in a pride. By the way, where is your mate? Why isn't she with you?" He continued to ask with a sound of neutral and gentle voice.

Chumvi turned his head to the side trying to figure if what he was going to say was the right thing to do. "She uhm… I told her to stay behind since I had no idea what we were awaiting." He replied and forced the king to chuckle a little.

"Ah I see! Protecting the ones you love, a very noble character treat. Very well!" Isitha continued to chuckle before he started to walk away from the pridelander and his followers well… following behind. Chumvi made a last bow as he watched the group walking away from him. Finally, Itshe stepped out from his spot and caught on to the other members of the group.

For a moment, the dark brown male though he might have seen a lion that wasn't along the northlanders before. His gaze fell on a beige lion in the back of the group that showed an all too familiar sight to him. He blinked for a moment, and then found the lion having vanished inside the group. Chumvi shook his head and rubbed his eyes for a moment before turning away and walking back to Kula with the great news he had to tell her.

* * *

_[several months later]_

One night, Itshe sat alone at the edge of a waterhole and staring right into his reflection. The now about three years old lion observed his face carefully and focusing especially on his throat and his eye. With his brown mane growing around his neck, he found the hideous scar he received as a cub being mostly covered by his hair. He brushed his paw over his injured eye and glanced down on it satisfied. He would have never believed that the red color that once made him be recognized by all cubs was going to be set back to its normal color. After all these years, he could look into his reflection and wasn't disgusted by his own appearance.

But then again, the fact that his appearance had now changed for the better couldn't hide the fact that all of the agenda why he came to the pride lands had become none and void… Scar was dead.

The news about prince Simba returning from the dead and taking his place on the throne had reached him quite a while ago. With the red/brown male gone, the pact that was made between Scar and Isitha was no longer valid. Yet he was surprised that even for the months that had taken place since the battle for pride rock, he never was addressed by Isitha about his beings and if he was going to stay in the north lands.

He continued to stare down onto the water surface and observed his face even further. With his marks and scars being hidden or gone, he looked just like the average male lion who could be found anywhere.

It was now that he realized that he had no significant facial or physical accent that would make other lions recognize him immediately. And with this realization, a thought crawled through his mind as it got bigger and bigger. _Being average, being unable to be recognized. Being just the mediocre type that get's forgotten the moment you part from him. It is the perfect gimmick, with this treat I can do a lot of things._

The beige male remembered one of Scar's first lessons and maybe the one that turned out to be the most important for the once so shy and friendly pridelander. _"You don't fight your conflicts openly and up front. You pull your strings in the back and let others take the blame for events you set in motion." _He smirked and thought about how true this statement was.

_Not only will they see that I'm not your student. But that I am your successor. No… I am more… I will become superior than you. I am going to make the name Itshe immortal. _The male thought and had to hold himself back to not burst out into and evil and somehow lunatic laughter.

* * *

**Author's note and trivia: **The song used in the beginning is called 'It's time performed by Lebo M.' It is another song from the album 'Rhythm of the pride lands'. In my opinion, this song gos well with songs like 'Circle of Life' and 'He lives in you' and might be the right additional piece for the first two parts.


	2. My name is nobody

What's up

So let's continue this story and find out what happened to Kopa.

**Reldor: **Thanks a lot! I was hoping that I could make the turn of Jiwe believable so that he comes off as a good villain.

**LionKingFactsGuy2: **Thanks a lot too. I can tell you on thing, there's a lot in store for hm.

Alright... have fun!

* * *

Chapter 2: my name is nobody

He had no idea where he was and what was going on around him. Everything hurt; his head, his back and his limbs. Rustling and distant yells reached his ears but were incomprehensible to his senses. He wanted to open his eyes. But even that was way too exhausting for him. Seeing as how this was going nowhere, he moved his body a little and immediately crunched in pain. As he tried to move again, he felt a sudden pressure on his back.

It took him a while to finally get ready to open his eyes. And with that he was able to take a look at his surroundings. Right away, his eyes fell on a large figure standing over him. Though his vision was blurry, he could make the figure out as a male lion that moved his paws over his body. he immediately go frightened and tried to squeeze out of the grasp the older animal kept holding him in.

But the male held him down and growled angrily at him. "Hold still!" He commanded with a stern voice and an angry expression on his face. The strange lion rolled him onto his side and put a paw on his hip. "Two broken ribs." It came from him and the cub gritted his teeth even more in pain. The adult wandered down his back to a huge white and yellow spot on his right hind leg.

Now the cub turned his head a little and took a closer look at the male. His fur was of a cream color with a tendency to grey. He could see various scars spread all over his face and his upper body. "W-what are y…" He started to talk but got silenced immediately.

"Don't talk!" The adult ordered not wasting a short moment to look at his patient. The pale cream male still felt the strange looking spot on the leg before he spoke out. "What you have here is a bite from a river leech directly on your leg. The poison in your wound could easily be infected which could cause you to get really sick. I'm going to press the pus out of it." He added putting more pressure on the spot. A clear and white liquid came floating out of the wound and the cub crunched in pain again.

He had to gasp as the male released him. "T-thank you!"

"Be quiet!" The older lion ordered before he put his paw on the cub's head and felt its left eye. The pressure on the eye made the young lion wince and again trying to get out of the adults grasp. "Hmm… that looks like a nice effusion. I'll cut that open to the let the water and the blood trickle out."

The cub gasped as he saw the older male closing on him even more. "Will it hurt?" He asked a bit scared yet being unable to move away.

Mwehu took a look to the side before he faced him again. "I'm not gonna lie to you… yes!" He pressed the cub to the ground and extracted his claws before stabbing it right into the swollen body part. The scream of pain filled the air around the green colored landscape of the jungle. It was heartbreaking to hear this lost cub scream like that. After what seemed like an eternity, Mwehu released him and the cub sank down into his sleep exhausted and demoralized.

* * *

Not only was his body broken and he was unable to move a single muscle without feeling pain, but Kopa was also plagued by nightmares. Every time he drifted off to sleep when he was not wincing in pain, he saw those fearsome yellow eyes of the lioness that wanted to kill him. Every time; he saw the half dead eyes of his grandmother who died to protect him. It was something he could never ever forgive himself. Not to mention that he was haunted by the fact that the last words he ever had with his dad were spoken in the heat of the moment and were filled with rage.

The supposed to be dead prince had no idea how he survived and how he came across this weird lion that aided him and nursed his body. He had no grasp of time and almost lost any sense of how to react to his surroundings. So it was no surprise that when he came back to full conscience, he still had no clue where he ended up and what was going on around him.

The first thing Kopa did was to touch his eye and feel that it was still closed and hurting. But at least it got back down to his normal size. Yet his ribs were still broken and made it impossible for him to move anything else than just his front legs. So all what was left for him was him opening his eyes and get a glimpse of the area around him.

"You're finally awake." A male voice called out to him and stepped out from the shadows.

Kopa found it to be the same lion that rescued him. The adult was not really paying any attention to him and kept lying just a few feet away from him on his side. Again, the prince tried to move and now looked all over his once golden fur. Nearly every part of his fur as covered with dirt or blood. The water of the river didn't help him getting it cleaner. He shifted his head and glanced over to the male. "Thank you!" He called at once again and tried to crawl forward.

"I wouldn't do that!" The male answered with his back turned towards him. Just the moment, Kopa tried to move, something inside his body cracked and he could feel an immense pain running through his body. He gasped out hurt and crouched together. "Told you!" Mwehu remarked with a voice saying. _You idiot better do as I tell you!_

Once again, the young former prince glanced around trying to get a hold of his surroundings. He found himself at the feet of a giant tree trunk with its inside being empty and forming some sort of den. In front of him lied a small glade which was barely touched by the sunlight as the tree crowns were coming together above them. Strangely enough, he felt really safe and protected in this place from the get go. His eyes locked on the male and he raised his head again. "Thank you… again!" Kopa called out.

He found a certain interest in the stranger as he observed the various scars on his head and the complete lack of a mane which he had never seen on a lion up to this point. "Even though he should have known better by now, Kopa took a deep breath. Even though his lungs hurt as he did that, and spoke out to the stranger. "So… you do live here?" He asked weak and shy fearing the worst and hoping for the best.

"What you can call living!" Mwehu answered with his voice still being stern and rejecting.

Kopa gulped and continued to dig into this a bit more. "Who are you?"

Though the pale cream male didn't want to have this conversation, he couldn't leave the cub here all dumbfounded and left alone with no clue. "Somewhere down the way, I got stuck with the name Mwehu. So you can call me that." He answered with a muttering voice showing dislike for no reason.

Being told of this, the young prince raised one eyebrow as he thought about the name he had just heard. "Mwehu… lunatic?" He asked and forced the adult lion to get right into his face and growling angrily.

"Any problem with that?" The scarred male said and forced the cub to shrug back in fear and short after yell out in pain seeing how he moved his body way too fast and awkward. With that being said, the cub shook his head and made clear that he had no problem with it. Quickly, Mwehu turned away and sat back down across from him. The prince however didn't want to be set back by this and continued to ask the male a bit more about his story. "How do you know how to treat my wounds?" His voice was a bit frightened and nervous as he expected the male to snap again any minute.

Yet Mwehu just muttered and continued to growl lightly. "I once knew someone that was… very good at this." His tone changed from angry and mad to a little bit sad.

"What happened to your friend?" The cub continued to ask in concern.

"I don't have any friends."

"NOW! I take offence to that." A new masculine voice called and mad both lions turned their heads around. The voice seemed to come from above them out of one of the tree crowns. Upwards, they spotted a yellow black spotted creature coming out of the tree and revealing itself to them. Kopa right away made it out to be a leopard; a very big male one to be exact. "And I thought I was the only one getting close to you without being in danger of getting tuned to shreds." The spotted animal said with sarcasm while slowly climbing down to them and stopping just a few feet away from them.

Mwehu muttered something before he raised his head again. "Well this is Konde! The only… thing that I tolerate being around with." The pale cream male answered with the same sarcasm but not sounding nearly as friendly as the leopard.

"Knowing you, I have to take this as a comment." Konde replied with a grin before he walked over to the cub and sat down beside with. "And who do I have the honor meeting here?" The yellow furred feline requested giving Kopa an honest smile.

For a moment, the young lion was about to spill out his name as he suddenly remembered the words he heard from Zira back that evening. _'Do you think you can hide from me forever? I will find you one day. What are you going to do? You can't run back to your parents. Not after what happened earlier on. They will never let you into their midst, they never even loved you in the first place. Or. […] And imagine if you come across another lion pride. Once they find out you're the son of the king of the pride lands, you're dead anyway!' _

Kopa thought sharply for a moment before he spoke out hesitating. "My name is… nobody!" He said with one paw put to his chin.

Konde himself pondered for a short moment as he somehow knew that the little cub was not telling the truth. "Nobody huh… well I'm Sentenza. This little scarred fellow over there is Tuco." The leopard received an angry growl from the lion before he turned around to the former prince again. "And that would make you… the cub with no name." He finally finished and said the last words almost mocking Kopa from bottom to tops.

Seeing as how this was soon turning into a conversation about how the young lion ended broken up and bruised in a river, he yawned a few times and pretended to be sleepy and exhausted. Which wasn't even a lie right now. "I… I am tired. I'm going to sleep some more." He said with closed eyes and lied down on the ground pretending to be asleep within an instant.

The leopard and the scarred lion walked over to each other as they both gazed at the young lion slumbering beside the tree trunk. "You know he has something to hide!?" Konde said right away into the ears of his male friend. The scarred male glanced to the side before he walked over to the tree again.

"I know! But frankly, I don't care what he has to hide." Mwehu replied further and continued walking around and away from the cub. "As soon as he has recovered, he is going away. I already found a lion pride that is ready to accept the cub in their middle."

With his eyes turning wide and his mouth dropping open, he followed his pal through the jungle. "What do you mean sending him away? The kid's got no one, what makes you think that sending him to another lion pride will solve his problems? Why not let him stay here?" Konde was right in front of him as he made his point clear and serious.

Yet Mwehu didn't respond in any way that the male leopard had anticipated. "That's none of my problems. I already did more than enough by saving his life. Don't expect me to raise him like a cub of mine." He replied with a grunt and a tone of carelessness. "Do you honestly expect me to go play a parent for the kid?" Yet Konde glanced at him in a way that was saying. '_Of course… who else!'_

"I think the fact that he doesn't want to talk about what happened to him, and that he didn't want to talk about how he got here speaks for itself. He is scared and needs someone to guide him through this cruel world. How do you even know that it wasn't them who attacked the kid and now just want to get back and finish the job?!"

But the pale cream lion was not so easy to convince. "The kid needs a father. Not a hard case for the lunatic asylum to teach him how to be a jerk." Before Konde could respond to that, Mwehu was already on the move back and rushed quickly into his tree as he lied down in the tree himself. The evening was already setting over the jungle and the sun had already vanished. Mwehu lied down even more comfortable and drifted of himself into sleep.

Up beyond, Konde put a comfortable place on a tree as he directed his gaze down on the cub for a long time. _What in the world happened to you little guy? Who could be so cruel to do something like that to you? _With that, he quickly drifted off into sleep himself.

* * *

Slowly, Kopa as moving forward while trying to be as calm as possible. He had his eyes locked on the target and jumped forward. He was about to grasp it as his target made a jump to the left and avoided his claws. The cub turned and found it now being above him as he once again tried to grasp. But yet another move he was forced to move right and back to go after the one thing he desired right now.

"Come on kid, by now you should have gotten it often enough." Konde called as he kept moving his tail from side to side as he tried to avoid getting caught by the cub. "You still do not concentrate enough." The leopard was standing with his back turned to the little lion while looking over his shoulder and moving his tail in front of his eyes. Again and again, the prince swung his paws and his muzzle at the end of the leopard's body, but again and again, he missed and only grabbed air.

The sun stood above the jungle, though it was hard to tell due to the fact that the trees and the plant were blocking most of the sunlight. After days of laying down calm and resting, Kopa was able to move around again. He still looked weak and hurt but at least he no longer had to fear to die. As a matter of fact, it was a relief for him to finally have someone he could play with. Even though that one could have been his father. Well… rather not considering the racial differences.

Both felines were so deepened in their game that they didn't realize Mwehu walking through the brush and locking his gaze directly on them. He noticed the lion cub chasing and jumping after the tail of the adult feline and narrowed his eyes while giving away short growls. "You're really doing these little games with him?" He half asked and half showed that he was not approving this.

Konde turned around seeing how his friend had returned and straightened up his expression. "It's a common technique along leopard mothers to teach their cub's reflexes and senses. Since he is staying with us for a while, it might be a good idea to teach him something." He answered relaxed and switched his gaze between the scarred adult and the cub to his feet.

"As if you knew how to teach and raise a cub." Mwehu mocked his friend while giggling nasty to himself.

"Hey! I am a good father!" The leopard replied being offended by the comment from the scarred male.

The pale cream male turned around and the two were now walking towards each other with mocking eyes. Kopa sat down a few feet away from them as he heard Mwehu speaking up again. "Oh really… how many cubs do you have?" He asked his face showing a mischievous smile and a mocking movement of his head.

"Uhm… twelve, thirteen."

"And you had those with how many females?"

"Seven or eight maybe.

Seeing as the male lion now had the upper hand, he grinned even more and sat down in front of his leopard friend. "And how many of those cubs did you see over the last months?" His gaze was darting and drilling as the two continued to glare at each other.

Konde raised his eyes and glared up to the sky while rubbing his paw over the grassy ground. "Well… one of my daughters dropped by a few weeks ago. Back then, I didn't know she was in heat and was just looking for a partner. Bet she didn't expect to run into her father." He added and almost chuckled to himself as he thought about the situation. "But we spent two nights together and had a nice talk." The leopard admitted closing his eyes and looking almost like reliving that memory.

"You see what I mean!" Mwehu directed his head to the small looking cub still glancing at the two with a little amused smirk.

But right away, the male leopard got to his feet and was right into the male lions face as the two kept staring at each other with challenging gazes. "What about you my mo-hawk friend? What would you recommend as a parent?" He asked glaring deep into the scarred lions eyes.

After a short moment of silence, Mwehu moved his head back and switched his glances back and forth between Konde and Kopa. It took a while until he had his complete attention turned on the golden cub. "Oh…" He started. "I know something that would be necessary!" He finished and forced the young lion to gulp again.

* * *

"NO! Please… stop it!" Kopa called through various yells and laughter as he kept being pressed down constantly into the river. Mwehu put his paw on his head and swiped with the other one over his fur as he tried to get the blood and the mud out of it. "I already told you… I AM clean!" The cub protested struggling for every chance to get out of the river and back to solid ground.

Sitting with his backside in the water and having his front paws full of keeping the former prince inside. Mwehu showed a mix of annoyance and anger as he rubbed his paws constantly over his fur. "You're not going to take me for a fool. Unlike your mother, I'm not going to lick the blood of your fur. So… HOLD STILL!" He ordered with his angry voice ready to yell at the young lion even more.

Slowly but steady, Kopa could see his golden fur coming back from the brownish/red he had for the last days. Though he liked looking normal after all, he was afraid someone was going to recognize him with his fur calling out to everybody who his father was. Finally, the male adult released him and the former prince immediately sat course for the bank as fast as he could. Stopping on the grass again, he shook his fur and soon found Mwehu standing right next to him.

"You know, I never actually enjoyed baths back home." With his wounds healing, he found some of his joyful self back. Yet there were still the nightmares he had of Zira that let him shrug up in his sleep. He once again looked back into the river and stayed quite a while on the reflection he saw on the surface. What caught his attention the most were the small marking that had built up on his cheek and above his left eye. He got his face closer and observed carefully. "That will never go away?" He asked calm but couldn't hide the fact that he was hoping Mwehu would say no.

But the scarred lion only shook his head and now stood above him meeting his eyes in the reflection. "It's not too bad to have a few markings. They remind you of your mistakes, they teach you to never do them again." He answered before walking away from the cub.

Kopa realized that and followed him quickly. "So… with you having so many marks…" he started.

"Means that I made a lot of mistakes in my past." The pale cream male answered for him before the golden furred cub could imply anything.

"Hey look Waldorf! It's the scary cat again. And this time, he found a friend that is not so easy disgusted by his looks." Yet once again, a voice from above made the two change around and face a duo of baboons staring down on them with mocking faces.

_Urgh! Those two again!_ Mwehu thought and shoved Kopa forth with his right front paw. "Keep moving!" He just said without paying any attention to the baboons.

However, the baboons were not that ready to let this go. "You're right Statler. But this time, he tries a new tactic by just ignoring us. Just like he is ignoring the little lion at his side." Waldorf called out and pointed his arm at the young former prince.

Kopa caught that and had to shake up his head and watch at the older lion. "What does he mean by that?" He asked as he realized that Mwehu glanced like he got caught by the baboon earlier on.

The scarred male waited until the two were back deep into the brush until he spoke up to the small one. "What he meant was that our time together is rather short-lived." He started but without showing any emotion in what he said. "Let's be honest… you don't wanna live a life like this. And I am not gonna lie to you. I don't have the time nor am I able to protect or provide you with food, not to mention the fact that I can't teach you anything. I'm going to send you away to another lion pride."

Kopa shook back and his ears fell flat to the side. It wasn't that he had grown attached to this life in the jungle with Mwehu. But after losing his life back in the pride lands and receiving a new chance in the jungle, he wasn't so sure about starting all over with a new pride. Beside there still being the possibility that the leader of the pride might find out who he was. "But, I rather want to stay with you. I-I can't live in a pride again." He almost pleaded as Mwehu continued to walk through the brushwood.

"Trust me kid… you'll gain nothing by staying with me here." He said yet with a faked tone sorrow which Kopa didn't buy right one bit.

The golden furred cub narrowed his eyes as he glanced into the red ones of the adult. "So you're… shoving me aside?" Now it was his time to ask stern and sharply as he eyed him.

"To be honest with you… yes!" He answered and Kopa shrugged together again. "I am not willing to babysit for a cub that already got himself in more trouble than what was good for him. And like I said; with me you're only gonna get into more trouble."

As he heard the scarred lion speak, Kopa wanted to yell at him just like he did back with his father for not getting what he wanted. But this time, he held himself back. Even though, Mwehu saved him from death. He knew that this guy probably had no restrains to beat cubs. And he certainly didn't want to end up like the last time. However, the pale cream male didn't seem like he was not completely uncaring for him. He didn't want to argue with him and just kept trotting after the adult lion through the jungle. "That… that pride you're sending me to, how are they?" He finally asked through a few sobs before the two reached a small creek going through the deep brushwood.

The scarred lion thought for a short moment before he replied. "I think they are okay. I came across them a few times; they don't seem to have a problem with strangers to join their group." He replied and crossed the small creek as he spotted an impala eating at the slope to their left. Before the small prince to his feet could argue again, he went down and ordered the small lion to do the same. "Do you know how to hunt?" He suddenly asked and waited for the young one to reply.

Yet Kopa kept standing in his spot and watched the pale cream one with wide eyes. Immediately, Mwehu put two and two together before he grunted with disappointment. "I should have known!" He muttered before darting off into the distance following after the fleeing animal.

_[a few weeks later]_

Mwehu and Kopa as well as Konde had reached the outskirts of the jungle as they glanced down a grassy field with trees spread over it. The evening sun was already vanishing on the horizon and filled the sky with a purple/orange light. Konde could feel the cub at his side shaking a little as he was shivering with nervousness. The trio of felines was waiting for the other pride to appear which would take care of Kopa rather soon. The believed dead prince didn't have any intentions of leaving this duo behind and start a life with a new pride soon. Kopa liked being with Mwehu and Konde, although the two were arguing rather often, he enjoyed and even had to share a laugh.

The scarred lion for his part stayed calm and just wanted to get this over with. He was tired of his leopard friend coming over to him every day and telling him about how he should call this off and take care of the kid himself. To be honest, he actually thought about it but swiped away the idea as quickly as possible. He believed that it was the best for the two to separate.

On the horizon in front of them, two figures came walking over the hill and were right away straight in the view of the unlikely group. Konde's face became stern at once while Kopa got nervous again and Mwehu keeping his normal expression. The two figures were coming closer and soon the group could make them out as a female and a male lion. Both of them had tarnish/golden fur and yellow eyes. Their figures were rather wealthy built with both of them having friendly and kind expression on their faces.

Kopa moved to the back again and hid behind the legs of Konde as the two approached Mwehu from the front. "Hello Mwehu, how are you doing?" The male asked and put on a genuine smile while the female kept looking around the group searching for something.

"Oh you know… the usual struggle for survival while kicking butt all around the place." The pale cream one answered as the female went forth and spotted the golden spot behind the leopard's legs.

Her face lit up as she looked at the sight of Kopa and how he looked a bit scared at the female. "And you must be…?" She asked as if implying that Kopa had to call out his name. When he didn't respond, she raised her head and stared over to Konde with a smirk. "He is a bit shy isn't he?" She remarked and the spotted feline glanced down while removing his leg. The prince walked forward and glanced upwards to the female with his eyes still showing some sort of reserve.

"Hello, I'm Kyauta, and this is Zaki." Her face was gentle while still closing in on the young lion. "Now… would you be so kind and tell me your name." She once again requested with her soft voice and Kopa gulped a bit while glancing up to Konde who smiled down to him.

He took a step forward and said shyly. "My name is… kid!"

Mwehu and Konde were about to smack their paws into their own faces if it wouldn't have been for Kyauta to laugh out loud. "Oh don't worry, he'll learn eventually someday to introduce him properly."

Zaki looked over to the golden furred cub as he could see the small glimpse of fear in the young ones eyes. He grunted a little without making neither Mwehu nor the leopard notice it. With a short move, the male turned to the scarred one again and continued smirking. "Don't worry; he will be in good paws with us. We'll teach him everything he needs to know." He said and moved back to his female friend as the tan lioness nudged Kopa forward to say goodbye to the two felines.

The former prince rubbed the back of his head for a moment before glancing at Konde with his most playful smirk. The leopard pulled him closer as the cub rubbed his head against his front leg. "Take care kid! I'll come and visit you one time in the future." He added and let go of the young golden furred lion.

After that, he turned his attention to the scarred lion who kept looking down on him with a neutral expression. The prince smiled up but received nothing from the older male. Only after Konde punched him with paw into the side and gave an angry glare to the lion. Mwehu moved and loosened up his stance. "Alright… stay out of trouble!" He answered in annoyance and decline before Kopa shrugged his shoulder and walked to the side of the adult lioness.

Together the three walked through the fields next to the jungle. As long as he could, Kopa had his head turned around and kept his gaze locked on the two felines that had saved him from dying.

* * *

The walk back alongside Kyauta and Zaki didn't take as long as Kopa expected it to be. The lioness was very nice all the time and they even stopped a few times so the prince could rest his still weak muscles hurting from all the walking. By the middle of the night, they had reached their destination and Kopa could see his supposed to be new home for the first time. They stood at the feet of a valley which had most of its area covered with yellow grass. In the middle of it, laid a huge waterhole which provided the only green colored plantlife that could be found around.

Huge mountains stood on both sides of it which only left a few escape routes to get out. A forest was set in the distance being perfect for a step back area. Kyauta gave the golden colored cub a nudge forward signing him to move forward which Kopa obeyed right away. The more he kept walking through this place, the more he began to somehow like it here. The mountains, the waterhole and the forest provided more than enough ground to play at. _Actually, it's not that bad. Who knows, maybe I find someone who actually knows how to play tag. _

It was a common thing that happened to him over the last things. Constantly, he kept being reminded of his life back home and how he lost the two only friends he ever had. Yet the moment he thought about his friends, his thoughts drifted off to their mother and how she forced him flying over that cliff.

"Is something wrong my dear?" He heard Kyauta call as the lioness had the realized that the cub was shivering. The prince glanced up and quickly shook his head signing that he was alright. Right away, Zaki walked forth and gave away a few quick and silent roars making note that they were back. It took a while before the trio could hear distant roars and little figures stepping out of the high grass.

Up ahead approaching them was a group of young cubs, four of them to be exact. All of their faces showed a delight to see the two adults again. They chatted cheerfully as they greeted Zaki and Kyauta before their gazes locked on Kopa. "Everyone, we have a newcomer in our midst, you better welcome him here with us." Zaki remarked as each one of the four cubs walked up to the prince and observed him carefully. "Now, you little fellows behave while I go and have a word with Cif." The tarnish/golden male added and walked away from the group. Kyauta followed him and Kopa was now left alone with the four cubs.

At first, he faced the one standing in front of the others. It was a male with nearly the same fur color than his own. Kopa glanced over the cub's shoulder and spotted another male and two females. The two females had tan/cream fur with brown eyes while the second male had beige fur with blue eyes.

Before the prince could glance at them further, the male in the front coughed making notice of himself. "So… where do you come from?" He asked giving Kopa an honest glare. By now, the prince should had gotten used to make up stories why he ended up being completely on his own. But still the golden furred lion rubbed his paw over his right cheek and could still feel the markings on it.

Seeing as how the newcomer was doing, the cub in front took the shot. "Let's better start with our names first. I'm Mutuwa, the guy behind me is Kin." He said with a nice but raspy voice and pointed his head to the other male cub with them. "And the two ladies are Zafi and Yaki!" He added while he led Kopa into the middle of the group and got him greeted by the others. "So… what's your name?" Mutuwa asked again.

This time, Kopa faced the ground but quickly got it back up and gave them a short smile. "People call me… Kid!" He revealed still not wanting to give away his true name and instead stick with the one he got from Konde and Mwehu. The others gave him a face with a mixture of stun and disbelieve as they couldn't believe what name they just heard.

"Where did you get that one?" Kin asked a little bit mocking but still not hostile.

Yet the prince tried to respond, but that was when Kyauta returned and nearly all of the cubs turned silent immediately. The tarnish/ golden female walked in between and gave Kopa a sign to go to bed. "Now, let's give the kid a break and return to your training tomorrow." She ordered and shoved Kopa forward to a tree where she signed him to lie down. "Sleep well… Kid. You have a long night of traveling behind you." She said giving him a lick on the forehead.

For the first time since he got pulled out of the river, he found himself truly loved again. Cared by someone who might just be as sweet as his mother.

_Mother! _He thought with dreamy eyes as he remembered how she was there for him from the first day. The weeks they spent in that den and how she always only wanted the best for him. But like the rest of his life before, all was gone.

* * *

The next morning came and much to his later surprise, Kopa found the first calm and constant amount of sleep in weeks. He didn't even know the figure approaching him in his sleep as it stood above him and hilled his body in shadow. The figure was big, of tan color and a brown mane going around his neck. "Wake up!" It demanded in a deep voice and nudged the cub with its paw on the side.

Slowly but steady, the prince opened his eyes and glanced upwards into the red eyes of the male lion that woke him up. His vision was still unclear and he needed a few moments before he could take a grasp of where he was at the moment. Kopa yawned again as he looked around. "Sleep time is over!" The male said again and urged the small lion to get up and follow him. "Guess I better give you a tour around the place." He continued.

Kopa for his part at first kept quiet until he asked out what he wanted for a long time. "Who are you by the way?" He asked curious but with a little bit joy in his voice.

The male glanced to his side and down to him once in a while as he spoke. "My name is Cif. I am… let's just say that I am the leader of this pride." His voice, though being deep, was kind and calm as he talked to Kopa while walking with him through the valley and explaining some stuff about the place. The valley this pride lived wasn't that big. In fact, it was rather narrow and enclosed by various mountains. It was a landscape that the golden furred cub did not expect to exist in this part of the world. Wherever he was anyway.

As the duo kept walking around, Kopa spotted Cif leading him over to the group of cubs that he had seen the other day. They were watched by a pair of lionesses with one being tarnish colored and the other being adolescent and beige colored. The cubs were standing in line as Cif gave away a roar greeting the duo.

The older female roared back and the tarnish male stopped in front of him with Kopa standing behind his left front leg. "Well Kid… I'd like you to met Malam!" He said and nodded his head to the older female. "She will be your instructor for the day. And then we have Taikamo over here." Cif added with a motion to the adolescent lioness. Both females nodded gently at him before the tan adult lion walked away from them.

After he was gone, Malam walked to the front of the cubs and at once spoke up to them as they listened carefully. "Now…" She started with a booming and stern voice which made the prince crouch together for a short moment which didn't go unnoticed by the other two male cubs. Even Malam caught that and shot an angry glare towards Kopa. "Since we have a newcomer with us. I think we should tell him what we do around here."

She made a short nod to Kin who right away walked in front of him and glared over to Kopa. "Sorry but… nothing personal!" He remarked before he swung his right paw across the prince's face. Kopa dropped to the side feeling the immense pain as the paw connected with his cheek.

At once, he looked up and stared shocked at the cub and how he smiled down on him. He took another glance into the round and found Malam as well as Taikamo and found them glaring in an approving way to the beige male. Again, Kin ran up to him and raised his paw once more to strike down on Kopa. Completely surprised and feared, the golden furred young lion crawled backwards extracting his paws in a defensive way. He could hear the other cubs laugh at him as they saw him refusing to fight.

Yet he had no chance to think about it further as Kin was already all over him. He sank his claws into his shoulder before swinging him around and hitting a few more times with Kin's paws. Kopa went into a fetus stance as he tried to avoid being hit again. That was until Malam roared and signed Kin from getting away from Kopa.

The tarnish older lioness stepped up to Kopa and glared down on him angrily. "Why are you refusing to fight?" She snapped at him and shot darts into his eyes.

For a moment, the prince thought about crying on the spot seeing as he found his mind set back to the night where he fell to his supposed death.

But he didn't want to give the laughing of the other cubs a chance to go even harder on him. Why were these cubs fighting each other in the morning with the adults encouraging them? His father never pressured him to fight Vitani or one of the other pride members. Kopa sobbed for a short moment before he got back to his paws. He eyed deep the lioness deep as he found his confidence and his spirit again. "What has he done to me that I should? I'm barely half a year old; I never had to fight in my whole life." _Well... except for that one time. _

He could tell right away that the old lioness wasn't approving any of this. "If you refuse to fight, you are weak. And we don't appreciate weak lions around here." He called back warning him to not rebel to her. Yet Kopa never took his eyes off from her and stared over to her with the pride he got attached as a prince. Malam smirked unsettling before she turned her head to the side. "Looks like we have a proud weakling. Last chance my dear… FIGHT!"

But Kopa refused and stood his ground, it was that hot headedness that had got him often into trouble. But with all the crap he had to put up in his life, he had enough. Some would recall that he had already learned too much from Mwehu later on. And with that… he spit onto the ground and to the feet of Malam who wanted to snap his neck around within an instant.

"Zartarshi!" She called and short after, a pale orange adolescent male with the start of a brown mane appeared beside the tarnish female. "Show him how we deal with proud weaklings."

Without saying a word, the adolescent male closed in on Kopa and made him whimper in fear. While the older male constantly punched the golden furred cub, Taikamu stood behind and glared with sorrow down on the poor thing.

* * *

_[The other night]_

Just when he thought, his life had made a turn for the better, Kopa found himself back in hell again. He had been crying for the whole night. He was bruised and beat up. His coat was dirty again with blood and his head was hammering. The golden colored cub glanced to the side and stared over to the adolescent beige lioness that declared herself to guard him during the night. Probably so that he wouldn't try to make an escape.

But even though he had this company, he was all alone. Even the short amount of family he had after he got saved was gone and probably even knew what he had to deal with here anyway.

He missed his parents, and yet he didn't have the courage to walk up to them after he yelled at them. Not to mention that he was afraid that he would run into Zira again. But aside from that, it didn't matter anymore, he was going to die anyway around here. That or be turned insane by the company he was having here.

Again the prince swiped away a tear before sobbing one more time. "How are you feeling?" He could hear his guard calling out to him with concern in her voice. But Kopa didn't move and kept himself lying under the tree. Taikamu got to her paws and padded over to him as she laid down right beside him. "Listen… Kid! You may think that I am just like the others but… I'm not." She sounded honest almost like she meant it. But the prince knew better then to trust her once more.

The beige lioness could see that he was shooting her angry glares even though he wasn't looking at her. She walked even closer and had her muzzle set right beside the young lion's ear. "If I'm going to tell you my story, are you willing to tell me yours?" She asked or rather requested. Kopa sighed and then weakly nodded at her.

Taikamu smiled and took a heavy breath. "I was picked by Kyauta and Zaki when I was about your age. My mother and I left my home pride when another male took over." She started and her voice changed to sad and regretting. Kopa almost could tell what was coming now and turned his head away. "My mother fell to a strange illness after she got bitten by a giant saurian. The last thing she could do was sent me away with the two so I could survive even though she was going to die."

Even if he didn't want to, the prince kinda felt sorry for her and gave her a short but kind glance. "What is this place anyway?" He asked hammering himself inside for not asking this earlier.

The tarnish lioness shook her head as she faced the ground again. "Since Cif and Zaki were not able to find a pride of their own, they're trying to from one of their own and making it the toughest and strongest in the whole African landscape. They recruited dozens of cubs before to train and manipulate them from the very early stages so they are fully trained when they're old enough."

Kopa was completely shocked. This type of evil was just a bit too much for the rational mind. He had only heard of lions this crazy back when his mother told tales in the den. Now he knew that Konde and Mwehu had no idea about his beings. Kopa looked up at Taimaku again and gave her yet another caring glare. "How did you react when you were first confronted with this?" He gave away through various sobs.

"Just the way you did. But I had help, Kyauta helped me get through and this and taught me how to cope." She answered and the golden furred cub got the idea what she really was up to. "If you can make it through the first months. You learn to live here and like it. I'm afraid that's the only advice I can give you." She suddenly felt even sorrier for the cub as she realized how Kopa ended up here. "From what I've heard, you don't even have another option." She said and Kopa shook back up curious of how much she knew. "I was told that your father didn't even said a proper goodbye once he gave you to Kyauta and Zaki."

Kopa smirked to himself even though he felt heartbroken inside. "He was not my father." He added and Taikamu shrugged back herself. "My real parents think I am dead!" The golden prince added moving his face away from her to hide the tears coming out of his eyes. He could feel the gazes of sorrow and sadness that were locked on him. "Why are you helping me anyway? Did you do the same for Kin, Yaki and the others?" He then requested eyeing her sharply.

"I had nearly the same welcoming once I got here. I just wanted to make things easier for you… before they brake you completely." She turned away from here before eying with the corner of her eye again. "I'm sorry for your loss! If you need anything… I'm here for you!" She said and turned away from Kopa lying back down in her place by the tree.

Kopa himself got back to a sleeping position as he thought about the talk he just had. "_If you need anything… I'm here for you!"_ He recognized the words as he already set his mind on the right course. _What I need? I need to get out of here._

* * *

**Author's note: **And here we go, still riding on the history train.

Neither am I aware if there actually is an animal called river leech or if it bites animals and poisons them. I also don't know how painful it is to cut a swollen eye open. I had it done myself once and it wasn't all THAT bad. But then again, I liked the idea of Mwehu living underneath that tree of Rafiki and actually catching up a thing or two. And just liked to write that little scenes of interaction between Scarface and our lost prince.

And right now I have nothing else to say than… see you next week.


	3. Unbreakable

Well hello dear readers.

Let's get going with the third chapter and see what is going to happen with our dear young prince.

**Reldor:** Thank you! I actually had a lot of reserve considering the situation of the 'valley pride'. Even for a story featuring Lions that talk and think like humans, which are growing up in jungles along a warthog and a meekat eating bugs, a mandrill that walks through the landscape as a shaman, a father that was found to be dead but directing thinks from heaven… I feared that the whole Kopa story here was a bit too much. But I hope you can understand that there is a lot in this that solves some problems considering the million plot holes we're dealing with here.

With that said, let's continue

**Warning: **Contains cheesy one-liners and 80's clichés

* * *

Chapter 3: unbreakable

_Kopa was padding around nervously while he glanced to the side nearly every two seconds. His impatience was growing to a ridiculously high level. He was still weak on his feet and tumbled from side to side once in a while. "Kopa! Please keep it down, you're going to be out of breath and completely tired once he's here."_

_The small cub glanced up into the aqua eyes of queen Nala while he never stopped padding back and forth. For the last weeks, he had to stay in this little den with his mother lying alongside him. He was not allowed to go outside for longer than a short time. And all of that because He was just too weak for that. He barely had learned to talk a few days ago and his vocabulary was limited to only a few words. _

_For hours, he was waiting for that 'weird' looking huge animal that looked strangely like his mother yet with more hair and a darker fur color. He knew that his mother called him his father, yet she always called him by the name… Simba. Though he all the time thought his name was father. The young prince took another glance to the opening and found the golden figure walking inside and staring down on the small cub with anger. Though, Kopa face lit up the instant he saw the king. He immediately went sad as he saw the golden male closing in on him and raising his paw. _

_He could hear his mother calling out to him with shock and horror. "SIMBA… DON'T!" She screamed as the king brought his paw down on his son._

_SMACK!_

For the umpteenth time, Kopa slid over the ground with his shoulder first as his face hurt on every inch of his cheek. The prince glanced up and found yet another cub standing over and treating him like a punching bag. But this time, t was neither Mutuwa nor Kin but another male cub with nearly the same lust for fighting than the other two. "With your attitude, I'll have you ripped apart by the end of the day. I'll sent you back to your mother crying like a baby." He mocked and closed in on the golden furred cub.

In the back, the duo was watched by Yaki and Zafi as well as Mutuwa as he glance amused to the young prince getting a whooping. "I never seen someone getting so beat up. What's this guy's deal?" He asked rhetorical as he chuckled out loud. Zafi turned in as the two observed Kopa once again from the distance.

"You know, when he first arrived, I thought he looked rather tough. But that proves that looks don't match personalities." Zafi added with an amused glare.

The only one that didn't tune in on the parade was Yaki. Even though, she didn't agree with the opinion of Kopa, she still admired him for not changing his behavior even though he received this treatment. Not to mention that he looked kinda cute. But she quickly swiped that thought away. "You know, you have to give him credit for not giving in to Malam. You know how furious she can get when you not do as she tells you." She said again looking over to the scene. Mutuwa and Zafi gave her distant looks as she didn't want to believe that the tan female cub actually gave the stranger a compliment.

ON the other side of the scene, Malam had her eyes locked on the young pridelander as well. The only difference was… her mind was set on how she could break the young cub's resistance and make him submissive to her orders. She could see that the newcomer was stubborn and proud showing a confidence she had barely seen in her life.

To her right sat Taikamu who for her part was worried. The other night, she tried to tell the young one that it would be better for him to do what Malam and the others were ordering him. But Kopa didn't listen and refused to defend himself. The young prince wasn't the first one to refuse the treatment he received here. And she also knew how the last one ended up. Which made her even a little bit frightened as she continued to observe the golden colored cub from the distance.

"ENOUGH!" Malam roared out again and glanced over to the side to the four cubs that Kopa had already met the other day. "You four… get in!" She called to Mutuwa, Zafi and Yaki which caused them to walk over to the group while keeping stern faces through and through. The tarnish female stared over to Kopa before turning to the group again. "Alright… who wants his turn?" She said smirking evil and knowing that she could go all day until the young male had nothing else to set up against.

However, each one of them hesitated before Yaki called out. "I will!" She said and stepped forward forcing a smile on the tarnish adult.

Malam gave her a short nod before the cub walked to the front of Kopa. She waited for a short moment until the golden male had his head back up breathing heavy and having his whole body aching in pain. The two glanced at each other and Yaki almost felt sorry seeing him as this. She brought her muzzle closer to him and said calmly. "Hit me!" Her voice was soft and caring and Kopa shook his head up in surprise. "Hit me and all of this will be a lot easier." She added but that wasn't enough to make the pridelander got forth and attack her. "Please… or else this will go on forever."

By now, Yaki had begun pleading, but silent enough so that the rest of the group couldn't hear them. But still, the others had become impatient and waited for something to happen. The tan female cub had to think of something. "If you are not intending on doing something yourself… at least play along!"

This surprised Kopa even more as Yaki gave away a tiny roar and slapped him across the face. But not as hostile and furious as the rest, but soft and gentle. At first, the prince didn't know how to react. But when he finally got the idea, he faked a yell of pain and stumbled backwards as the tan female cub went forth jumping onto him.

Everyone of the crowd's faces lit up as they saw the fearless approach of the female and even cheered as they saw her jumping on top of him and tightening her grip on the golden furred cub's neck. Even Malam was glad as she saw her own training having a success one yet another cub. Taikamu for her part was curious and stepped forward. She saw directly into Kopa's eyes and found his pupils rolling back as he seemed to be unconscious.

"ENOUGH!" Malam called as she walked by the other cubs and pulled Yaki away from the golden furred prince. She observed him carefully before she spoke up to Taikamu. "Get him back to his resting place. Perhaps this was the right time to knock some sense into him and make him a bit more compliant." The tarnish lioness continued and watched the beige adolescent as she picked the young lion up and carried him away.

* * *

Yaki followed close by with the others glancing after them for a short while before getting back to their trainings. Taikamu dropped the prince on the ground as the crowns of the trees provided enough shade for them to cool down. The moment the golden furred cub touched the ground, he opened his eyes and glanced upwards to the two females at his side. He shook himself and Yaki padded closer to him with concern in her eyes.

Kopa eyed her directly as he had a thousand thoughts ran through his mind. "Why… why did you help me?" He asked rubbing his jaw which was hurting badly.

For a short moment, Taikamu glanced to the side and made sure that they were not seen or heard by anyone before she answered. "I have to say that you do impress me. I have never seen someone taking one beating after another and till glare at Malam that proud." She said and Kopa could see her truly meaning it.

The prince turned his head around and faced Yaki who kept looking at her… funny. "Something wrong?" He asked through painful gasps as he moved his body around. But Yaki turned her gaze away as if being caught while shoving her paws nervously over the ground. Seeing that, the golden furred cub felt relieved that he had at least two friends around here. _Maybe they and I could… _And that was when he suddenly found the right idea. "Uhm… Taikamu, are you able to get out of here and deliver a message for me?" He asked right away wanting to get right to the point.

"W-Why would you need that?" The tarnish lioness asked back seeing what Kopa was trying to get that. There was a tone of nervousness in her voice as she answered the prince.

"I want you to contact my friends in the jungle and help me get away."

With that, both females shook back their heads in shock and fear. The prince knew right away that the two were not agreeing with the things the golden cub was planning to do. "No, I… I can't!" Taikamu answered and switched her head back and forth looking for someone to eavesdrop on them. "If they find out!" She continued and Kopa's heart dropped down immediately. "Do you think you're the first one who ever wanted to escape from here? Nobody has gotten out of here before." She continued with the golden cub glancing over to her stern.

The two were so eager to protect him from getting beat up this time, so why didn't they want to help get out of this place. "So you say… ether follow or get beaten up all the time?" He challenged them to answer and could see Taikamu's face fell down at once. _That expression means… or worse!_ Just when the young prince had found his confidence back, he was yet pulled back down and reminded where his two friends had dumped him into.

The tarnish adolescent and the tan cub glanced at him with sorrow as they backed off from him. Yaki had her head turned towards him as she followed Taikamu through the grass and away from the golden cub. Kopa stayed behind under his tree and curled up under its shadow. He was certain by now; no one was coming to get him out of here. And the meant…

…he had to escape by himself.

* * *

"Remind me that next time I invite new members in our pride, we cast them and see if they are fitting." Zaki called out to Cif as the two wandered through the valley and observed their own little kingdom they had. The sun stood high in the sky and the two males observed the landscape around them. In the distance, they could see a group of lionesses prowling through the grass and hunting after a herd of gazelles. "This golden newcomer is causing us more trouble than he is worth." The tarnish/golden male added with a grunt of frustration.

The beige red eyed male followed his glance and kept observing his surroundings. "We should never have taken him in. I have seen this type of rebellious behavior before. That little brat is spoiled to a point of no return. I don't know who his parents were but… they must have done a lousy job in educating him." Cif answered looking to the side and saw the group of cubs still training in the far distance.

His eyes fell on the golden cub as he was again teamed up with the young tan cub named Yaki. "You know, last time we had someone as feisty as this one. It did cost us more than we gained." The two kept walking alongside each other with Zaki remembering the last time.

"Do you really think that…?"

"Most certainly!" It came again from the leader of their pride and he narrowed his eyes further. "Keep an eye on him."

_[That same night]_

With so few ways of getting out of here, Kopa knew that the few gateways were guarded by adults everywhere. The night would not provide him with cover. But the chance of passing by the other lions unnoticed was higher. The sky was covered with clouds and the moon could not be seen from below.

With Taikamu being his guard, he knew that she wouldn't betray him to the others. But she also would not agree helping him. So the golden furred cub waited until she was asleep and decided to make his move. Slowly but steady, the cub sneaked through the field with his senses being sharp as they never had been. Who would have thought that all his little sneakaways with Vitani would be the one thing he was going to need the most of right now.

He passed the waterhole by the right as he marched through the forest. There was a small trail through the right side of the valley that led through the mountains and that was the route he was going to take. Kopa climbed through a brush as he made his body as tiny as possible to get through it. The young prince got out of it and glanced down a grassy field and trail that was leading out of the valley.

Kopa marched forward slowly glancing nervously from side to side to see if someone was following him. Even though he had no idea how he was going to proceed once he was out of this place. But one thing was for sure, the prince was not willing to stay in here even if that meant for him being forced to wander through the veldt all by himself. Right now, he wished he would have listened a bit more carefully when his mother talked to him about orientating with the stars. He had no idea how he could get back home even though he had no desire to. Not with Zira and the others wanting him dead too.

He could see the trail making sharp a turn to the left and once he was around that, he was out of sight and could concentrate on finding a new place to live.

"Going somewhere!"

The blood in his veins froze immediately and his eyes widened just as wide as when he fell over the cliff. His paws were heavy as they never had been before and Kopa didn't dare to turn around. _Mom, dad… help me! _He pleaded and turned slowly around. His gaze locked directly on the beige lioness Malam as she was accompanied by Cif and Kyauta.

"Did you really think nobody had tried this before?" The male asked and Kopa could already see the cold and bloodthirsty eyes of Malam. He didn't have an answer for that and stepped on the spot nervously. "Well… anyway!" Cif continued and smacked Kopa on the side knocking him out within an instant.

_[later]_

And from that night, it was always the same. During days, he was even more punished with constant teases from the others. He was no longer allowed to be with Yaki and Taikamu. Beginning with that night, he didn't get as much to eat as the others and went to sleep with his stomach groaning with hunger. He was guarded for the whole day and barely was allowed to talk to the others. Besides the daily beatings he was still receiving.

After another two weeks, the golden furred prince was nearly at the edge of giving up. He was sure that he would never see anyone else then the cold eyes of Malam, Cif and Kyauta again. Every night, he sunk together under his tree and cried silently. And so… his days in that valley dragged along in this routine of misery and pain.

It was another cold night in which the young prince once again lied under his tree and finally was comfortable enough to drift off into sleep. His nightmares of Zira had yet been replaced with nightmares of the previous day and the treatment he was receiving recently. Not far away from him lied a lioness with dark cream fur who was also on the edge of sleep but never enough to not let her guard down on him.

But neither one of them was prepared what was going to happen next. "Psst… Kid!" A voice called through the darkness down on the young lion as it tried to reach his ear. "Kid, you're awake?" It was a deep masculine voice that called down to him with a whisper. Short after, a dark figure climbed down from beyond of the tree and tried to be as silent as possible. Kopa didn't hear him and the figure nudged him on the side. It could not see the full appearance of the cub as the young prince moved his body showing that he was awake.

"Wh-what… Konde!" He almost gasped out as he saw the face of the male leopard appear in his back. Kopa rubbed his eyes and took a quick look to the side searching for the dark cream lioness and if she was also shaking up on them. But much to his surprise, she didn't realize what was going on. "Am I glad to see you!" He called with delight yet didn't show his appearance immediately.

The yellow colored feline chuckled amused as he saw how happy the cub looked right that moment. "Wow, you did really miss me huh?" The adult asked sarcastically but straightened out as he saw the serious and straighten up expression he received.

"You have no idea!" He answered and glared up so that the Konde could see his entire appearance.

The leopard gasped and shook back as he saw how the young lion cub was looking. Once again, his fur was covered with dirt and blood, there were several markings on his head and torso and the young prince looked exhausted and tired. "Oh boy! What… what is going on here?" Konde yelled quietly and showed worry for his new friend. "What are they doing to you?"

Kopa was about to cry again but kept it down and gasped. He wanted to tell Konde everything. But out of the sudden, his mind blacked out and he could only stumble like baby. "Get me out of here!" He pleaded and dropped to the ground again. The male leopard walked closer and the prince buried his face in Konde's chest as he cried inside.

It broke his heart to realize that he and Mwehu had probably had sent the young lion straight into hell. He waited until Kopa had calmed down and pulled away from him before stroking his paw over the young lion's brown hair tuft. "I'll help you! I promise. I'll get Mwehu and we'll think of something." He added and before the two hugged each other for another time.

"What are you doing here?!" They both heard a feminine voice call out to him and found the dark cream female to be awake and roar out to them with anger.

Quickly, Konde roared back and licked Kopa on the cheek. "I'll come back and get you!" He said and quickly climbed up a tree before vanishing into the crown. The lioness tried to follow him but the leopard was to fast for her to keep track of him and soon gave up on him. Kopa for his part smiled since he knew that he could count on the male leopard and that he would indeed come back for him.

But his newfound good mood was soon vanquished as he saw his guard approaching him and roaring down on him. "Who was that?! What are you up to again?!" She marched forward and pressed the golden cub with her right front paw against the tree. "You are getting on my nerves my little one. Let's see what Malam and Cif think about your friends coming over to a visit.

* * *

In Konde's mind, the way back to the jungle took almost forever. He was cursing inside and he was angry to leave Kopa back in that place with… them. But the leopard also knew that the two of them would not have made it out alive. If that lioness wouldn't have woken up, he probably would have taken the kid and used the trees as cover. But since everybody of them knew that Konde knew how Kopa was treated. He needed a different approach, he needed Mwehu.

_[Several moments later]_

Mwehu was pacing back and forth listening carefully to the words his friend was telling him. Once in a while, he growled out loud and gave away small roars. He hated getting screwed and this time… he really got screwed. He had never felt so embarrassed and humiliated since Scar had gotten the better of him years ago.

"Like I said, those moments were enough for me to make clear that we need to get him out of there." Konde said wildly gesturing with his paws and shifting his gaze from side to side and keeping his glances on the male lion. "So are you coming or what?" He once again asked turning his head to the side and giving the scarred adult a demanding glare.

For the second time, the pale cream lion stopped and faced the ground deep sunken in thoughts. With a deeps sigh, he looked over and glanced at his leopard friend. "Sorry pal. But there's nothing more I can do for him!" he answered and turned away from Konde.

It was like all color had vanished his face if it could. Ever since he met the scarred lion, Mwehu had never backed down from any fight at all. And yet he declined helping a helpless cub that stayed with him for several weeks now. The pale cream lion lifted his head upwards and glared at the leopard with neutral and emotionless eyes which made Konde get enraged. "You can't be serious!? Haven't you been listening? The kid is getting beat up by those guys, he's just a cub. He can't defend himself." The black spotted feline almost yelled out getting to his feet.

But Konde received no reaction from the scarred male lion. Mwehu just kept pacing around with paying no reaction to his friend. "Of course I have been listening to you. But what do you expect me to do?" His voice was calm and grumpy as always. "You think the two of us are going over there and get the kid back. You and me versus a whole pride. Who do you think I am?"

"At least we should try. After all, we got him into this mess. And I think we owe him something." Konde walked closer to him up to the point where their faces were only inches away from him. Both were growling at each other and had their teeth bared.

Mwehu faced the ground and breathed slowly for a short time. "I… can't… help him!" He admitted and Konde's mind filled with disappointment and anger.

The leopard swiftly turned around and walked away from the scene. The scarred lion himself turned around and was about to leave the place when he heard his yellow furred friend speak up to him. "Why?" He called and the pale cream male turned around with confusion as Konde continued. "Why did you pull him out of the river when you leave him to his death anyway? Why all the effort to get him back to his feet if he is going to perish with them anyway?" The leopard was finally finished and got back onto his way out of the jungle.

But seeing as how pleading to the lion's conscience was not going to work, he pulled something that he only did when he was desperate. "So… you're going to let Zaki and Kyauta live in the knowledge that they outsmarted you?" Again Mwehu stopped dead in his tracks and turned around within an instant. "Can you live with the fact that they are better than you and that they tricked you with success?"

Konde was not completely finished with his sentence as he could see the pale cream male storming over to him with his teeth bared and his eyes filled red with fire. He stopped only inches away from the leopard and growled viciously.

"This means war!"

* * *

"I have to say that you are really getting on my nerves!" Cif called angrily as he padded in front of the supposed dead prince who glancing at him with a mix of fear and anger. To his right sat the dark cream lioness alongside Malam and Kyauta as well as Zaki sitting behind Cif. It was in the afternoon and the sun had begun to vanish behind the huge mountains. One part of Kopa was glad that for once he didn't get roughed up. But on the other hand, he was afraid of what was going to become of him later that day.

By now, Kopa had stopped to count the numerous times he got smacked in the head and been abused by these lions. But that didn't make the pain go away. The young lion rolled over the ground and stared right up in the eyes of Malam who slapped him herself. The cub shook himself and got back to his feet as he found himself face to face with Zaki. "I should have known that there is no good coming from Mwehu. But you are the prime of annoyance." The tarnish/golden male turned around and glanced at each one of the lions present.

"Not only do you diverse us from our daily duties with your antics. But you also manage to bring our own kind against us." He added and Kopa shook his head back surprised, feared and astonished at the same time. Right then he saw another lioness carrying Yaki over to them with her mouth. She dropped the cub in the middle as she lied just a few feet away from him. The golden furred pridelander gasped and even growled a little as he saw her dropping to his side with her face showing the same markings that he had before. "Now I can see how you made it through the last weeks without your spirit being broken."

Kopa hesitated and walked over to her as he tried to get the tan cub to her feet. He didn't care if he was revealing the fact that Cif was right. Seeing as how this was going, he was sure that they were not getting out of this one. Right then, another pair of lionesses made their way through and shoved the adolescent Taikamu into the middle of the scene. Again, the prince's heart dropped to his knees as he could see the two getting punished for something he was responsible for.

Cif walked up to him again and smirked down on him. "To be honest with you… Kid, you did impress me after all. All these weeks, you have endured pain and injuries. And all of that while you constantly tried to screw us over." His voice was mocking and he showed with every word that he despised him and his behavior. "Now, let's find out if you are still so tough when you find your two friends being punished for your deeds."

Before the male lion could lay a paw on the tan female cub, Kopa jumped forward and positioned himself in front of the two. The others laughed amused as they saw the stern and angry voice of the cub as it tried to protect the female young lion from the old male. "Do you really think that this little act of chivalry will make me become soft?

Yaki stared at the golden furred cub with fear as she spoke out to him. "Please Kid, don't do anything stupid. He is going to kill you!"

"You better listen to her Kid! Do you want to die?" Cif asked again reducing the distance between him and the golden furred cub.

With that, Kopa grew a smirk on his muzzle and found that glory of a prince again as he chuckled out to the adult lion. "NO! But just like my father once said… I laugh in the face of danger!"

Cif wasted no time and brought his paw down on him but only getting it blocked in mid air. "AHHH!" He screamed out as he saw someone biting down on it and sending him tumbling backwards. Everyone looked up and saw Konde jumping in front of the cubs and standing protective before the lions. "What the…" Cif and Zaki called out at the same time as they couldn't believe what was going on.

"Are you alright Kid?" He asked the young lion with a smile but turned gaze as quickly as possible to the others.

Right away, Taikamu stepped beside the leopard and growled angrily and viciously at the others. "Where did you come from?" She asked completely surprised but glad that there was at least someone who was helping them. Konde raised his paw and pointed to a tree top which forced the tarnish lioness to facepalm. But the duo had no chance to get further as Cif commanded his pride to close in on them. "I hope you know how to get us out of here?"

"I got a backup plan!" Konder replied dry.

_[A few miles away]_

Mwehu walked over the edge of the hill and glanced down on the valley as he could imagine Konde and Kopa trying to get away from the group. He narrowed his eyes and walked down into the landscape as he kept high guard and counted on a rough surprise for him. He could see the waterhole in the distance and heard a huge noise which he made out to be where his two friends were.

The scarred lion was about to go into a run when he felt a paw colliding with the left side of his head and forced him to tumble to the side and fall on his stomach. "You are trespassing!" He heard a masculine voice calling out to him in a hostile tone. The scarred lion looked up and glanced directly into the eyes of a dark cream colored male with a brown mane surrounding his neck.

"That was not the welcome committee I expected!" Mwehu joked and got back to his feet.

Yet the other male took another swipe with his paw and struck the pale cream lion across the face sending him down into a sitting position again. Mwehu was smaller in size than the other one and barely had a moment to breathe before he got pressed down by him again. "You walked straight into hell my friend." He mocked him and pulled him back up at his Mohawk. "And I… am the devil!" Another paw collided with Mwehu's face sending him to the ground again.

The male took two steps back and waited for the comeback of the pale cream one. Mwehu opened his muzzle and spoke out. "You're not the devil…" He answered and spit blood onto the ground. "You're my warm up program!" With that, he jumped at the male and pressed him onto the ground before sinking his claws into its neck. The stranger yelled out in pain before the scarred lion bit down on his paw. Mwehu growled and pulled with his muzzle while pressing his claws deeper into the dark cream male before twisting it around in an awkward way.

"AHHHH!" He screamed out and Mwehu knew that he had just broken the males arm.

_[Back with Kopa and Konde]_

Everyone could hear the scream and nearly all of the lions turned their heads while Konde started to smirk. "What was that?" Taikamu asked facing him with the corner of her eyes.

The yellow furred feline returned her gaze and moved the edges of his muzzle upwards as he answered. "That was the backup plan." Konde roared shortly and jumped forward and took Cif completely by surprise as he was facing Malam and Zaki with annoyance. He had the male lion pushed to the ground and rammed his claws into his chest. Cif yelled out and Konde jumped off from him.

Malam and Kyauta rushed forward and swiped their claws at the male leopard but only hit empty air as Konde jumped to the back and smirked at them mocking.

Getting closer to the group, Mwehu ducked underneath a swing from another female only missing him an inch. He quickly grabbed her with his teeth and pushed her with her head first into a waterhole and held her down underneath the water surface. It didn't take long for the female to stop struggling and going limb in his grasp. The pale cream male pulled up and dropped her onto the ground. He never gave her a single glance and was about to walk on as yet another female came from behind and brought her claws down on his neck. Mwehu yelled out in pain and soon found himself sink together onto the ground.

He could already hear another roar in the distance and knew that there was another male approaching him as he tried to stay conscious with the lioness still on his back. Mwehu pulled his back paws into the ground and pushed his back side up with his front legs still lying on the ground. The lioness lost balance and rolled to the side and beside him but still had her fangs in his fur. The scarred lion grabbed her paw with his and pushed down on it. Even though, she was in deep pain, she held on but not until Mwehu bit down on her arm and forced he to let go.

Konde's friend didn't waste a second and kicked down on her skull with his right hind leg and knocking her out at once. That was just when he got tackled by another male and slid a few feet over the ground. _This is going to take a while! _He said as he got hit again by the males head. Mwehu's back collided with a tree and he yelled out once again. Slowly and dizzy, he got his head up and watched the other lion to take another rush at him.

With a nasty smirk, the scarred male went low and made his attacker tumble as he sailed over him and head first into the tree Mwehu had been standing in front of moments ago. The lion went limb and the pale cream one didn't even bother to look back. With a dizzy head, he tumbled forward knowing that this was going to hurt even more.

Meanwhile, Kyauta and Zaki had teamed up to lay a paw on Konde who was very clever in keeping both out of range and even matched to protect Kopa from their wraths. Malam and Zartarshi were going for Taikamu who stood between the two cubs and the adults. "And I thought you were the right one to once continue my work when I would be done." The tarnish adult said and Taikamu just growled back at her. She jumped at her and the beige adolescent rolled to the side shoving Malam to the side for a while. Yet she wasn't able to keep her eyes on the adolescent male as he grabbed her with his fangs and pulled off from the adult female.

Kopa joined Yaki as the two moved away from the others without drawing to much attention. All the adults around seemed to be too busy with fighting so the prince saw his chance of getting out of there. But what he didn't count on was Cif suddenly appearing in front of him and baring his teeth growling angrily. The golden cub immediately stepped in front of the female cub trying to protect her. "You don't get it, I don't want her… I want you!" He said and swung his paw at him hitting him straight on the side of his head.

The tan female jumped at the adult at once while ramming her claws into his face. Yet the impact was only enough to get the male annoyed and swipe her off from him. He walked closer to Kopa and took a short look back to see that both Konde and Taikamu were occupied in battles. He continued to smirk evil and open his muzzle to bite down on the young one's neck.

But that was when Cif heard a heavy and unstable breathing behind him which forced him to turn around and see the source of it. As he turned around, he stared right into the angry and bloodthirsty eyes of Mwehu who was standing a little bit sloppy on his paws while breathing loud and heavy. "Now…" The scarred lion started. "You weren't going to hit a little cub weren't you?" He asked but didn't get any further as Cif had him already pinned to the ground and tried to sink his teeth into Mwehu's neck.

"GET HIM!" He called out at once and ordered all of the lions present to attack the pale cream one as Konde quickly rushed up to Kopa.

"Time for a stylish exit. How much do you weight?" He asked and took the golden cub totally by surprise. The young prince stared at him with disbelieve and for a moment puzzled what to answer. "Ah forget it… you're too big for me to carry you with my mouth. Jump on my back." He commanded and the prince turned around to face Taikamu and Yaki as they stared at him with sadness.

Kopa walked up to them as he kept his gaze locked on his leopard friend. "What about them?" He asked concerned but was silenced as Taikamu

"We'll be fine!" She said with a fake smile. "Go!"

The young male cub stared at them with teary eyes as he could hear Konde yelling to urge him coming over to him. He waited until Kopa was right beside as he spoke out. "Okay, so this is how it goes. You climb on my back and sink your claws in as tight as you can. Got it?" The prince nodded and Konde sat down and waited for the cub to make his move. He glanced to the side and found Mwehu getting beat up by the group of lions and lionesses. _Wow… the guy makes them so mad that the only thing they can focus on is beating him up and forget about me and the kid. _He thought but had to yell out in pain as the cub was doing exactly as he was told to.

For what he believed to be the last time, he glanced at the two females and gave away a short smile. "Bye!" He said and Yaki and Taikamu returned the gesture before Konde jumped upwards a tree.

"Ouch… au au… that hurts. God you're heavy. Ouch!" For the whole time, the yellow black spotted feline cursed until the duo got to a tree branch.

Mwehu stared upwards and found the duo sneaking away using the tree tops as cover from the figures on the ground. He smirked as another paw hit him right in the face and send him sailing to the ground. Though his head was hurting like crazy, he forced his gaze to search for the other two lions that had been with Konde and the kid before. As he saw them vanishing in the brush. He smirked again and slowly got to his feet again. He was face to face with Cif and the leader of the pride was ready to end him.

But the scarred adult ducked down and kicked him right into a section that would make any male drop down within an instant. Right away, Kyauta and Malam ran forth but only received a swing of Mwehus paws to the eye. Both females dropped to the ground and held their eyes in pain being immobilized at once. Zaki came walking up and got onto his hind legs and swung his paws numerously at the scarred male. Yet Mwehu was faster and bit down directly on his chest before throwing him over his head and knocking him out right away.

The last one left was the adolescent Zartarshi who shivered a little as he saw this male walking over to him and giving him slightly the creeps. The lion crouched together as the scarred adult stood over him with all the madness squeezing out of his eyes. The moment he realized that there was no danger coming from this one, he turned away and began with his way out of the valley. He had been only walking for fifteen minutes as he heard roars and scream coming from his left and growling down him.

Mwehu realized what was about to happen to him soon. _Oh brother… why! _He gasped inside in frustration and could feel his weak legs giving up underneath him.

* * *

With the night breaking over the African landscape, the unlikely duo containing of a leopard and a lion cub wandered through the tree spread fields of the savannah. There were not exactly walking through the fields but instead marching through a small creek going along while the moon reflected brightly in the water surface underneath them. The leopard's back was still aching because of the claw marks the young prince had left in it, but the adult feline didn't complain and swung his paws through the water spreading it everywhere.

"This should cover up our tracks and prevent those morons from tracking us down." He mentioned and signed the young lion to do the exact same thing than him. Every few seconds, Kopa glanced into his back and hoped that he would see a brown Mohawk coming into view. Konde noticed that and put a paw on the cubs head and rubbed through his hair tuft. "Don't worry Kid, we have been through worse." He assured and Kopa glanced upward to him.

In the distance, they could see the jungle emerging in the distance and Kopa couldn't wait to lay down for once not fearing to get hit again. His thoughts drifted back to Yaki and Taikamu and how the two had stood up for him while being forced to get out of there as well. And that brought him back to Mwehu. He had seen the group of lions going down on him and was sure that no one would get out of there. Once again, someone had sacrificed himself to ensure that the young prince survived.

And even though the young lion wasn't responsible this time, he still felt an amount of guilt crawling into his mind. He bowed his head and was close again to sobbing as the duo heard movement to their side. Both felines shook up in defense before a red painted pale cream figure crawled out behind a rock and dragged itself to the river pushing its head into the cooling liquid at once. It pulled his head out again and Kopa's face lit up at once. "MWEHU!" He yelled and jumped at the male nuzzling him with joy.

But Mwehu didn't waste any time and pulled away from the cub. "Don't… touch… hurts like hell!" He muttered frustrated and kept dragging along. The young prince trotted after him with his ears hanging flat to his head and Konde giving him an encouraging glare.

The three continued walking through the fields and the jungle until they reached the tree where they used to live for the last weeks. The scarred lion wasted no time and dropped down inside as he roared out quietly while trying to get into a comfortable sleeping position. Kopa slowly walked up to him and was now only inches away from his face as the adult had his eyes locked on him.

"So… uhm… thanks for saving me… again!" He said and glared gently at the pale cream male.

"Whatever Kid!" Mwehu answered in pain and the same distant voice he had nearly all the time.

Kopa looked over to Konde waiting at the outside and smiling at the scene in front of him. The young prince sighed shortly before rest glancing up to Mwehu again. "So… does that mean I can stay?" He asked again and forced the male lion to shift around and face the wall again.

"I don't care! If you have to… then fine!" With that, the scarred lion curled up together and was soon asleep. Kopa waited to make sure that he was really knocked out and laid down beside him feeling really comfortable with his new life.

Konde chuckld to himself and climbed to the top of the tree where he settled down on a branch exhausted from the day's events. _Be careful Mwehu. Some people might get the idea that you really have a heart after all. _With that though, the leopard himself drifted off to sleep anxious to see how this was going to turn ot.

* * *

**Author's note and Trivia: **Yes! I do love those old flicks with the Expandables cast (though I don't like the movies). Hope you don't mind. Also there are lines used from Batman Begins and there was a little reference to Gladiator.

I think it is time that I talk a bit about the names given for the characters.

Of course most of the names used for the pridelander are Swahili, but I guess you all figured that out from Day 1, the names used for the northlanders are from Zulu, mostly just the same meanings but in a different language. The names used for the 'valley pride' are coming from Hause

I speak neither one of these languages but used it all from online dictionaries.

Thanks for taking time and reading, see you next week.


	4. Royal pains

Hey guys!

Not much to say for this one so let's get going… have fun.

**LionKingFactsGuy2: **hehehe . I love that you love it. Yeah, the pride is a bunch of big douche bags (Except for the good ones)

**Reldor: **Glad that you like the references. I really like writing fight scenes even though they are really difficult to be done right. Glad that Mwehu seems to be accepted as a character than can be rooted for. However… remind me that I start to put him into his place more often. Just for the case of not getting him into Gary Stu level. (one of my biggest and omnipresent fears)

* * *

Chapter 4: royal pains

_[Present day]_

With the sun standing high above on the sky, the grassy and rich fauna of the pride lands was lighted beautifully by its rich and golden sun streaks. The sky was clear and a slight and cooling breeze wandered through the air of the kingdom. Herds of wildebeests and zebras ran through the veldts under the eyes of various carnivores and predators searching for food.

Not too far away from the king's home pride rock had a group of three lionesses settled down under a huge acacia tree as they dozed into the afternoon. One of the lionesses raised her head and stared around at the other two females lying right beside her with dreamy eyes. Her fur was cream colored with her eyes being aqua. A smile formed on her face as she observed them.

"What's troubling you?" She heard a voice calling out to the queen.

Nala turned her head around to find a tarnish/orange female staring over to her. The royal lioness gave her a gentle smile and slowly shook her head. "Nothing!" She answered resting her head again on her front legs.

"You're lying. I know that you are lying." She answered and continued to close in on her. "I know that smile to well. You love the current situation so much that you fear it could change for the worse in the future." Tama added again but this time put a bit more weight into her last words.

The queen chuckled to herself and gave away to her friend that she had caught her after all. "Alright…" The queen started to reply and directed her gaze directly toward pride rock. "I'm worried about Simba." She finished and Tama perked her ears up at once. "There's something wrong with him and I can't put a paw on what it is." She sighed and lay down onto her side. "He has been sleeping unsteady and noisy. He goes inside the den early and get's up late. And when he is finally awake, he stumbles around weakly and tired for a while before he is 100 percent present." The cream female admitted with a sigh.

Sabini, who had been quiet for the most time, got to her feet and padded over to the queen before sitting right down beside Tama. "Aren't you overreacting a little bit? Just because Simba has been a little sleepy for a short time, doesn't mean there is something wrong with him. I mean, it had always taken that long for him get awake." She added but only received a shook from the queen's head.

"Are you serious? His sleep as always been one of the strongest I have ever seen back when we were cubs. You have no idea what I had to do back then to even break him out of it. But once he was, he was an unstoppable ball of energy." Nala's voice was as energetic as always as she spoke out enthusiastic about the way her mate had been back in the days. But that was before her voice went quiet and her ears dropped to the side. "No! Something happened to him… and it's not for the fact that he got old."

Both Sabini and Tama were troubled to see their long time friend and queen being worried about her mate in a way they hadn't seen in a long while. "Maybe that's why Simba spends so much time with Kovu all the day?" Sabini threw in as she thought about barely seeing either one of them without the other one being around. "You wouldn't think that…" The golden female started but couldn't finish the thought as they could hear laughter approaching them from behind the tree.

Short after, a brown male and a golden female cub came rushing around the tree and headed straight for the cream lioness. "GET HER CHAKA!" The female cub yelled out as she jumped on the queen's back and started chewing on her ear. Tama and Sabini watched delighted as their friend got attacked by the two little lions.

The brown male ran forth and bit down on Nala's front paw. With that, she whirled around and sent the small female flying over her onto the ground. After that, she raised her paw and the male cub with it. Pressing both her paws onto the cubs, she growled down on them in a playful way and even fake smirked evil. The two young ones laughed and giggled under her pressure. "What do we have here? A bunch of 'up to nothing good' little cubs that don't know when to stay out of trouble." She chuckled herself and the brown cub tried to squeeze out of the adults grasp.

"Grandma… stop!" The male cub called as he saw the tongue of his grandmother coming closer to him.

"Shani, get out! It's the…" He stopped mid sentence as Nala had licked the young lion on the top of his head. "Tongue of sweetness." Chaka finished frustrated as his sister had to burst out into laughter.

Nala continued to glare at them adored and released them after a short while. "The tongue of sweetness? Who taught you this?" She continued to ask before the two cubs looked up to her.

"Grandpa did!" Chaka replied by shrugging his shoulders and right before he could feel a pair of front legs stopping right behind him. He gazed up and looked directly into the brownish/red eyes of his mother Kiara.

The golden/cream lioness moved her head down and nuzzled the male lion cub with her cheek. "Hey mom!" The princess greeted Nala and rubbed her head against hers with the same gentleness which she used on Chaka too.

Nala for her part returned the gesture by wrapping one of her front legs around her daughter's neck. "Hi sweetie!" She answered gently as the two stood in their position for quite a while. After they released each other, Kiara shoved her two children closer to her with her front paws before she spoke up to her mother as well.

"Have you seen Kovu by any chance?" Her voice and mimic were released and as she asked the queen in a neutral way.

The cream furred lioness herself kept glaring around as she tried to remember where she had seen the young dark brown male and the golden colored king for the last time. "I guess he and your father had been walking along the western hills the last time I checked." Queen Nala replied and could see her daughter's ears drop slightly. "Do you need anything?" Nala continued to ask but Kiara shook her head right away.

"No, no! It's fine, it's just the fact that… he and daddy are spending so much time together that… I barely see him through the days."

Nala couldn't help herself but chuckle as she thought about how she herself once felt back when she and Simba had been freshly engaged. Back then, all the golden furred male could think of rebuilding the kingdom and at some point forgotten the relationship with her for a short while. "Don't worry honey. I'm sure this will only last for a while. Your father just… needs to make him used to this whole 'being king thing"." Her voice was gentle as she talked to her daughter calming her down from the get-go.

"I guess so… daddy is acting rather weird over the last weeks. I hope he's not getting into his stiff old self again." Kiara let her ears fall to the side and face the ground.

But Nala quickly got her head under her chin and nuzzled her. "Oh Kiara, believe me… he would never do that ever again… trust me!" She said letting go of her daughter. "Or else, he has to go through me!" Both females chuckled out loud as they could imagine the queen getting on edge with the king again.

* * *

So the pride lands where at peace, at least for the time being and except for a few little things. Yet the world seemed to be a bit different at another kingdom set in the African landscape. And that kingdom was named the north lands. The mood around the highest ranked lions around king's hill was rather hectically. For a lot of times, most of the lions kept their head directed to the entrance of the cave of the king of the north lands.

Sitting in front of the cave and shined on by the golden sunlight of the afternoon sat a light brown lioness with blue eyes. She was shifting her head back and forth as she watched out for any animals walking by and giving away suspicious glares. Everybody could tell that she was tensed up and couldn't wait to see the results of whatever was going on inside the den.

It didn't take long and a brown colored male lion with a black mane and blue eyes exited the cave and stopped just a few inches away from the female with a worried expression. "How does he feel?" She asked concerned but with a stern voice.

The male sighed for a short moment and glanced at her with concern in his eyes. "Not that good. I thought that his condition had changed for the better over the last months. But given the last weeks, I'm not so sure if he will make it through the last dry season." Ingozi added and walked alongside the female away from king's hill. "By now he can barely stay awake for a few moments. He doesn't even have the strength to speak properly. The only words he can give away are whispers into my ears."

"Given the fact that he is barely able to rule this kingdom, I think it is the right time for you to take over your father's place." She said and rubbed her side against Ingozi's.

But the brown male just shook his head and closed his eyes. "Ikhaya… we have been over this. I am taking over his place, once my father steps down from his position and leaves the throne for me to claim." He answered with a gentle yet calm voice. Ingozi could feel his wife acting kinda pushing her way into him becoming king. "Father brought us out of our diversion and back into unity. Ever since the pride wars, we live in peace and harmony, and we have to thank HIM for that." Ingozi said almost pleading to knock some sense into his mate.

Yet the light brown lioness stopped and gazed over to him with an understanding tone. "Okay, you are right! We should wait and support your father." She added before staring into the distance. "But there are things we have to talk about yet another thing… our daughter."

Ingelozi was about get back on his way as he had to stop once again. _Not this again! _Though sarcasm was not in his nature, he could resist it from happening and faced Ikhaya once more. "Please don't tell me that you talked to Itshe about this." He almost pleaded once again as he could already tell by her reaction that she had.

"Do you really think that this… pridelander…. Is the right one to marry our daughter once she gets old enough? She has to be a strong queen later on. And I doubt that this lion from the outskirts of the kingdom is going to be the right king for us."

He had heard this kind of statement from a few lions before. _No… only Ingelozi, Itshe, Ikhaya, Usizo and Kwalenga…! _He even asked himself where this sudden mass of sarcasm came from. But he was tired of hearing the same statements over and over again. "Up to this point, Kichwa has proven to be a responsible and right hearted young lion. Maybe he lacks the education of a king. But once appropriately schooled, he can be noble addition to our pride.

Even though, Ikhaya shook her head, she let the argument go for now and wondered where her daughter was right now. _Probably together with that pridelander!_

_[Miles away]_

By the time the evening broke over the north lands, Ubuvila and Kichwa had settled down aside a waterhole where they waited for the first stars to appear on the sky. The dark brown male lay on his back and scratched his stomach with his paws. The brown female was lying on her side and rested her head on his belly while watching him gaze upwards to the stars.

"What's on your mind?" The pridelander male asked without facing the female in a dizzy way.

Ubuvila chuckled and rubbed her head a few times over Kichwa's belly. "You!" She said with a smirk.

Both young adults enjoyed these moments together with each other. They had become rare over the last weeks since the young female was more and more educated in the way of royalty and the ways to once become a queen. She herself would have loved to stay with the dark brown pridelander much more often. "So anyway… how's your grandpa doing?" Kichwa then asked having heard the news about king Isitha getting sicker and sicker every day.

"Not that well!" The princess' face got sad and she let her ears drop even more. "We are barely allowed to walk inside. The only ones getting near are Itshe, Ingelozi and my father." Ubuvila answered with a thoughtful sound. "My father says that there is only short time left before he passes away!" She had always been known to get a bit melodramatic with her speeches and her choice of words. And so the male lion at her side was not surprised to hear her call out. "Soon, he will blessed by the great Ingonyama and is allowed to join him."

Kichwa directed his jaw down so that the two were no glancing into each other's eyes. "You have a nice way of saying someone going to die!" If the princess wouldn't have liked him so much, she would have slapped him right across the cheek. Instead she only gave him an adored gaze. The dark brown lion realized and gave away a nervous chuckle. "I think that the great kings will welcome him gladly into their circle."

"But… he was a northlander." Ubuvila replied with a stern expression and narrowed down her eyes. "Northlander kings don't join the…!"

She stopped at once as the young male started chuckling and even laughed out a little. The princess was a bit upset as she saw that and went into a sitting position. Kichwa stopped at once and put a paw on her shoulder. "Oh come on 'Vila! You know that I was kidding. I would never compare our faith of the great kings with your Ingonyama." He settled down turned his face into a sorry and gentle form. "Do you forgive me?"

The brown female shook her head. "Of course, but you know everything about me and you should know better to not mock my faith."

With that, the ex-pridelander got closer to her and nuzzled her gently once more. "No… not everything! I have forgotten how your playful happy laugh sounds." The two rubbed their cheeks against each other while Ubuvila shook hers slightly.

"Kichwa! You know that my position does not allow to be that playfully and reckless again. My father will soon take the throne and I have a responsibility as princess. It's not like back when we were cubs." She answered with a half sad and explaining voice. All her life, she and the other cubs had been taught about authority and the respect for duty, position and the respect for the elder. Something that she knew, the male lion didn't know since he had never been at king's hill for long time.

And though he could understand what would force the princess thinking so stiffly about her life and her position, he wished for her to loosen up sometimes a bit more. "Are you sure? I know something that will make you laugh, if you want or not." As quickly as he could, Kichwa had grabbed the lioness and started to tickle her on the side.

Even though Ubuvila tried to resist, the lioness started to chuckle and soon began to laugh. Her breath got hectically and she breathed for air. The duo rolled around over the grassy fields with the princess trying to squeeze out and Kichwa holding on to her. It took them a while before they stopped rolling and Kichwa landing right on top of the brown lioness. She turned her head and rubbed her forehead against the male. "Do you ever grow up?" She asked in a sweet voice glaring deeply into his eyes.

"I'm starting right now!" Kichwa answered and shifted his body so that he was on top of his mate as he got rather nervous about what was going to happen.

"Ahem! ... Excuse me!"

Both lions stared right up to see the yet another male lion staring down on them with a neutral and emotionless face. The princess pulled away a little from her friend and stared out at the brown and black maned figure in front of them. She wanted to speak but got interrupted by the huge ex-pridelander. "Jeez Izulu! Can't you at least warn us before you sneak up on us?"

But the male lion ignored him and kept staring at the young female. "Excuse me princess! But your father requests you at king's hill. He told me to get you."

Ubuvila moved away from under the dark brown male as the Kichwa rolled over onto his back in frustration. "I see you tomorrow then!" She said and licked the ex-pridelander on the cheek.

Kichwa returned the gesture before he glanced back upwards to the sky. A smile came up to his face as he thought what might have happened if that male wouldn't have come to interrupt them. _Yeah, see you tomorrow._

* * *

When it came to the bottom line, the plan that Zira and Hiyana had formed had worked out in the end after all. But then again, her plan was only partial successful. The tarnish lioness wanted her son Kovu to take the throne of the pride lands and continue the legacy of king Scar. The part of Kovu becoming the new king of the pride lands was really going to happen. However, it wasn't in the name of Scar but continuing the course that Simba and Nala had set.

Kovu himself would have never expected to walk through the fields of the pride lands freely and completely accepted in the royal family. And he would have never believed that he would find the love of his life in princess Kiara. But with his life making another huge twist, the dark brown young lion soon had to face a complete new task at hand. Being trained to be a king.

He and Simba were walking all along through the grassy fields as the golden furred king kept talking and lecturing the younger male in the ways of being a king. "You see Kovu, it is important to keep the balance and nature between every living and feeling creature of this kingdom." He said as he and Kovu walked side by side close to a waterhole. "It is something that Scar never understood."

The younger male nodded even though he felt a bit tired and bored. _Who would have thought that being a king would end up as a daily routine where someone could not get out? _He thought while glancing to the side once in a while. "Do all of the conflicts in the pride lands com from the territorial rights at the waterhole?" Kovu asked as he remembered doing nothing else than moderate between herds of animals who would get to drink first and where for the whole morning.

"Be glad that those times are over!" Simba answered with half chuckling and half getting serious. "Scar left us a kingdom being at the edge of its downfall. Only with unity and strong will, we were able to turn this wasteland into this rich and beautiful kingdom." Simba finished his sentence barely before he started to cough and yawned looking a bit tired.

At once, Kovu went forth and put a paw on the golden male's shoulder. "Are you aright Simba?" He asked with concern while Simba pulled away from him.

He didn't like these sudden and short situations of weakness that were coming to him rather often over the last weeks. The king quickly pulled away from the dark brown male and shook his head for a moment. "Yes! I'm fine!" Simba answered before both male had to shake their heads up as they could hear a high voice calling out to them.

"SIRE!"

They both heard the voice of Zazu calling for them and landing right to their feet. The blue hornbill bowed shortly before another bird stopped right at his side. "Now!" Zazu continued talking to the black/white feathered pied before he stopped and put his wings to his hips. "You are not listening!" He added with a stern and upset voice.

Kicho gave the king a quick nod before turning his head into Zazu's direction. "Oh… sorry Zazu! I wasn't listening. What were you saying?"

The blue bird threw his wings up in frustration as Simba nudged Kovu on the shoulder and gave him a wink with his eye. Zazu shook himself before staring overt again. "I was about to teach you how to give away the morning report." Zazu waived one of his wings in front of Kicho as he was about to lecture him. "As major-domo and my successor, you have to remember to keep waokr by the royal protocol. It is most important to keep the king informed of all the events taking place in the pride lands."

With that, the blue hornbill started to go ahead and begin his daily report to the king. While Zazu kept talking, Kovu felt more and more bored and yawned for a moment. He leaned closer to the golden furred king and whispered into his ear. "Do Kiara and I have to deal with this every day? How do you cope with it?" He asked while Simba chuckled slightly and whispered back.

"After a short while, it gets much easier once start to know which part you have to listen to and when you can mumble a tune in your head." The king laughed a little while Zazu kept talking. After what felt like an eternity, at least in Kovu's mind, Simba gave the major-domos a nod and both birds set their wings and set flight.

The two males stared after them before Kovu turned his head to the king and sighed for a short moment. "What did I drag myself into?" He gestured while moving his paw through his face.

He soon heard the laughter of Simba appear beside him as the king put a paw on his shoulder once again. "It's too late for that, you should have thought about that before you fell in love with my daughter." The dark brown male glanced at the older golden one as Simba continued to give his son on law a few encouraging words. "But don't worry; I'm not planning to leave any time soon. I'm still here to help you." He finished before Kovu bowed his head.

He had not thought about this too often in the past, but the more he reflected on the actions of his mother and the consequences that came with it, the more he remembered of those days when he and his family lived in the pride lands the first time. "Simba! Do you…" He started but stopped as he thought for the right words to start this conversation. "How do you think things would have gone if Kopa wouldn't have died?"

Both stopped as Kovu could feel the mood of Kiara's father change for the worse. He didn't want to bring this up but when it came down to it. All of this was a result of the death of the young prince. He had talked with his sister a few times about the time back with the young prince and heir of the throne of the pride lands. But Vitani stopped talking about the closer circumstances of his friend's death once they were accepted in king Simba's pride.

"There was barely a day where I didn't think about what could have gone different in both ways." The king started with his voice going calm and sad at once. "But it's not wise to keep our lives focused in the past, we have to look forward and start to live in the present or else we lose focus on the things important. And seeing how things developed, you are the closest thing to a son I have right now."

Both smiled at each other as they moved along back into the direction of pride rock.

* * *

Kopa jumped right through the bush and brought his teeth down on an impala that was taking a drink at a small creek which ran through the middle of the jungle. The animal shrieked out in shock as the golden male bit down on his neck and pressed it down to the ground. With two short bites, he had beaten down the animal and now stared down on his freshly killed prey.

The almost grown up young lion pointed his head upwards in pride as he gave away a short but proud roar. To any creature walking by, it was a majestic sight to see this male lion standing here with all his glory. His coat, even though it was a bit lighter with a tendency to cream, was golden and only barely told the story and history of violence which this male had been through. A brownish-red mane was set around his head which showed a young and healthy face.

His eye color was of a similar color than his mother, a fact that helped to cover the resemblance to the king of the pride lands. Right in that short moment of glory, the lost prince was at peace with himself and wasn't completely reminded what happened back in his cubhood. In that moment, the only that showed that this young male had a hard and violent youth were several claw and scratching marks on his right cheek which were going to remind him of that one evening at the gorge of the Zuburi-river.

The golden furred male placed a paw on the side of the dead impala still glancing around proudly when he heard the bush behind him moving. Kopa's face lit up as he saw Mwehu stepping out of it. The pale cream male lion had a stern expression on his face as he came close to the younger lion. And with a short motion, he slapped quickly on the back of his head which made him drop his head forward a little. "Fool!" He added as the lost prince glared at him with surprise and shock.

"How often did I tell you to make as less sound as possible once you're on the hunt?" The scarred male said after that. There was a huge degree in his voice as he spoke out to Kopa. "Or else you can scream out to every other predator in this 'hey look what I found, a fresh kill ready to be stolen by hyenas and wild dogs and leopards' way."

Kopa shook his head as he observed Mwehu walking around the place and taking suspicious glares through the bushes. "Can you name any animal that might be able to take this away from us?" He answered with a smile having a tendency to arrogance.

For a short moment, he was sure that the scarred male was going to give him another smack, but the only thing which he did was laughing slightly in a mocking way. "I was hoping you would remember that hyenas and wild dogs hunt in packs. You do remember do you?"

The golden furred male bowed his as he indeed remembered.

_It was night in the jungle as Kopa wandered slowly through the high grass underneath the tree crowns. The still young cub kept his body low to the ground and his senses up trying to be as silent as possible. He was barely able to get out away from the tree without being held up by Konde or Mwehu trying to protect him._

_For a short moment, the cub thought he heard a rustling in a brushwood nearby but didn't pay that much attention to it. But that was when he heard laughter coming from the distance and the lost young prince perked his ears up listening carefully. And that was when he saw a duo of hyenas padding through the forest and sniffing the ground for possible food. From the way it looked, the two did not take notice off the lion cub nearby yet and continued with their walk._

_Kopa was about to vanish back to where he came from when he had to shout out of a sudden as someone grabbed him from behind and pressed him to the ground with his paw. The golden furred cub looked up into the eyes of Mwehu who growled at him furious. "What are you doing out here all by yourself?" He asked but not expecting an answer or even wanted to hear one. With his angry and raspy voice he continued. "I'm going to say this only once."_

"_When living out here, one mistake can be your doom. The wild and the jungle don't forgive mistakes. Learn that, or die… because next time… I won't put effort into getting your butt out of trouble." The golden furred male followed the adult back to the tree where they were living for the next years._

"Of course I remember. But there haven't been sights of hyenas or any other predators in the past few months. So hakuna matata!" Kopa answered as he padded Mwehu on the shoulder. He grabbed the dead impala and totted through the bush back where he could take a calm meal.

The pale cream raised his eyebrows and stared after the young male and, though he would never admit it, a bit baffled by the sudden easiness and relaxed mood the young cub was in. but before Mwehu went into further questioning the behavior, he heard yet another two voices coming from above. He instantly recognized one voice belonging to his leopard fiend Konde. And the other one… well he could tell even if he didn't know the name.

"I never realized that the stars were shining that bright out here at night." The feminine voice said in a dreamy way while Konde chuckled gently and Mwehu shook his head in frustration.

_I think I need a vacation! _He thought and continued on his route through the jungle.

* * *

_Pain!_

_It's such a small word. And yet it tells so many things. _But right now it was all Itshe could feel for the last months. The beige male sat on one of the countless hills that were spread all over the north lands as he was watching a scene playing along in front of him. He was close to puke as he saw the small group of lions enjoying their evening. His green eyes focused on the caramel female and the dark brown male as they laid side by side in the grass.

Not only was he forced to see Kula and Chumvi walking through his home every day for the last years, but he also had to watch their son Kichwa and prince Ingozi's daughter Ubuvila getting which he usually intended for his own son Ithunzi to do. But Ithunzi also was somehow getting closer to their daughter Akili. He growled again and narrowed his eyes down even more while turning away from the scene.

"I can sense it from here that you are thinking about destroying their little paradise down there." He heard someone say to him from behind a tree.

Even though his eyes were capable to see in the dark, he wasn't able to see where it came, yet he could tell who was shouting out to him. "At least that's one thing were you could see through me and are able to know my thoughts." The beige ex-pridelander replied unable to hold back a nasty smile. "That brings me to the question… what is your business to come out here and dig deep into my soul and thoughts?"

The figure stepped out from behind the tree and revealed itself to be Ingelozi. His brown mane waived in the wind as he eyed the beige male with his darting green eyes. "I think it is time for you and me to push and pull on our destinies to bring them into the right direction."

Itshe raised one eyebrow and moved back and forth a little so that both of them were now only inches away from each other. "You know that those kind of plans where the ones that came back and bit Scar in his tail? Be careful with those ideas and wishes." His face turned into a small smile as he tried to test how serious king Isitha's son was with his offer.

"I assure you I am. I just need to know if I can count on your loyalty once we're done." Ingelozi countered before he smiled back at the king´s consultant.

For quite a long moment, neither one of the two said anything as both tried to stare each other down and figure the other one out. Finally, Itshe brought the edges of his muzzle upwards and nodded his head. "For now, I might as well see what you can offer, and then we'll see how much loyalty you can get from me.

* * *

**Author's note: **For those of you wondering: No… Kopa is not growing up in the same jungle that Simba did back then. Always imagine Simba having to go through the desert to get to his jungle. Kopa just floated down the river and landed right in the paws of Mwehu.


	5. The past can hurt

And here we go again.

Welcome again to the third installment of Heirs.

**Starzinmieyez:** Thanks for the comment, glad you like it. About no commenting; It's totally fine. I don't mind at all. Sorry to say but… Simba's fate is already set and requests won't help changing that. But I won't tell what is going to happen to him, you have to find it out yourself.

**Reldor: **We have to see if that is going to be the case. ;)

**LionKingFactsGuy2: **Hope you're not saying farewell. I hope you stay with us to the end. I won't answer to any statement that you made but… Over the course of this fic, you'll see that there are a lot of characters who have some serious mental issues. Indeed Kula and Chumvi have to be really careful. Don't worry, Timon and Pumbaa will have a part in this one. I have to make an explanation why they didn't show up to this point.

Now let's find out if Kopa is really doing that well… **enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 5: the past can hurt

Never in his life, Tojo would have gone forth and call his own life being chaotic; especially since he had to see what one of this best friends Simba was going through in the past eight years. One could call the banishment from the pride lands and the connected isolation from his home as the only severe tragedy in his life. While he had to witness the tragedy that had come over the royal family, he was lucky to see his own family being as lucky as they never had been before.

The ochre male lion had set down beside a huge boulder on the outskirts of the pride lands as he and two of his closest friends were on their duties of patrolling the pride lands, it was something that had gotten quite relaxing since all known threats had been gone.

"So… my ochre furred battle-buddy." The pale orange male to his right called Malka asked out to him while he rolled around and scratched his belly shortly. "Since our fearless royal leader came in the privilege of getting a grandchild sooner than we all thought, when does your sprout come?"

Tojo chuckled to himself as heard his somewhat unique friend shout out the question which was keeping both older adults on the edge for a while now. "Funny you should mention that. Cnce it is time; the little cub will be one of your sprouts too." He replied with a raised eyebrow and a sly smile. But before Malka respond he continued to respond. "Man, I still can't believe we ended up being related."

"How does Niyani do with the former outlanders living here anyway?" Malka then spoke out with now a bit more concern and honesty on his mind. Since the outlanders and the pridelanders had merged down to one giant pride, Tojo and Niyani had taken the leading role in bringing forth the integration of both prides.

The ochre lion gave away a slight smile before he answered. "Better than I expected; slower than I hoped." He replied shortly. "The differences between us and them were so big that we are still working on it."

While the two older ones kept talking each other down, Meth kept his head resting on his front legs laughing inside hearing these types of arguments in the past. His eyes wandered over the grassy veldts searching for any movement in the distance. "If my information is correct, there is a hunting party walking through this area." Once again, he let his gaze wander and as if it was programmed, he spotted a small group of lionesses charge after a duo of zebras. "Ah there we go, it's our young ones."

Malka and Tojo followed their friend's gaze as they observed the scene in the distance and moved closer together. "You got that right. I can see… Nuru." The pale orange one didn't even try to hide his pride. He continued to glare trying to identify the other ones. "Then there's Naima, running alongside her. Now where is…" he narrowed down his eyes searching for the third one in the bunch. He finally caught her and his face took a frown. "Huh, look at that. Our little princess running up in the front."

The males all shook their heads up as they saw the golden/cream lioness ran after one of the striped animals before ramming her claws into the back of it. All three shook up their heads in surprise as they watched the scene up ahead. Kiara had brought down the zebra almost by herself before the other two came up and helped her.

"Who would have thought that Nala's and Simba's lessons would actually work on… K_iara_?" Meethu mentioned and for a short moment, the trio giggled shortly. But then he suddenly widened his eyes again. "Wait! One of them is missing, where is Vitani?"

As they stared down the on the scene, they saw the tan lioness coming from the other direction and approaching the. Vitani had her ears hanging low and her face turned into a stern expression. She only shook her head up as Nuru spoke out to them. "That was pretty awesome Kiara!" Malka's and Tama's daughter said out at once as she gave away her enthusiasm. "You finally learned to hunt properly."

Zira's daughter couldn't hide the fact that she herself was proud of the young princess and how she had changed since she and her family had walked into her life. For over a year, she had been living alongside the pridelanders and she even was surprised how well she did get along with the pride. But then again, she could still feel that she was different from the other females in her age. Something that the lioness couldn't quite get was the fact that these three were constantly filling their days with useless small talk.

"Hey Tani!"

She heard Naima call out to her and Vitani immediately twisted around offended by the call of her disliked nickname. The tan female narrowed down her eyes even more if that was even possible. "What?" She snapped almost a bit annoyed.

"I was wondering what you think about Nuru and Mto going to have their first cubs." Tojo's daughter answered while waving her paw from left to right.

Vitani turned her head slightly to the side as she shook it slowly and her eyes glaring towards the ground. "I thought we went out here to hunt, and not to waste our time with gossip." She replied annoyed and angry. The former outlander turned away from the group and walked into the opposite direction.

A bit perplexed and even a bit offended, Naima stared after her before she raised her voice offended and challenging. "Come on Tani!"

It didn't even take a second before the tan lioness got face to face with the caramel female again. She had her teeth bared and her eyes were red with fire. Naima shook back a little as she saw how angry Vitani was. But Zira's daughter was barely able to hold back her fur. "First, stop calling me Tani, there was only one I would have ever allowed to call me that. And that was…"

She stopped as she stared at the princess and realized she almost would have spilled something she promised to keep and given the other females room for unpleasant questions. "You know what, forget it. I guess I just don't fit into your tiny tipsy world." Again, Vitani turned away and distanced herself from the others leaving Naima, Nuru and Kiara back with confused faces.

"What was that all about?" Nuru questioned while the princess stepped forward and stared after the tan lioness.

Kiara inhaled deeply before back to her friends. "I don't know, but I better talk to her later on."

Yards away, Vitani breathed heavy in frustration. She knew that she kind of overacted back with the others. For weeks and weeks, she had this unsettling feeling in her stomach. It wasn't such a problem in the first weeks she came back and lived in the pride lands again. But like she said back there, she still had a feeling that she didn't belong here after all.

_I bet Kopa would understand._

* * *

"_Do you think you can hide from me forever? I will find you one day. What are you going to do? You can't run back to your parents. Not after what happened earlier on. They will never let you into their midst, they never even loved you in the first place. […] And imagine if you come across another lion pride. Once they find out you're the son of the king of the pride lands, you're dead anyway!"_

_Kopa moved into the front of the tree again and stared directly into Zira's eyes. He formed his muzzle into a small smirk and walked straight up to her. "No chance this time Zira. I'm not that scared little cub I used to be. I am old enough to oppose you." He stormed forward and growled viciously. Since he was now almost grown up. He found himself actually looking down on the tarnish lioness._

_But Zira continued to glare and smirk at him as he even started to chuckle. "Are you so sure about that little prince?" With a command to the back, she ordered several figures to come into view and laugh hostile at the young prince. Kopa shifted his head back and forth from left to right. _

_The air around them was covered in black and there was dust floating around everywhere. The only light that provided the scene was coming from a fire burning in the distance. And that was when he realized who he was surrounded by. Staring around to everyone, he saw Zaki and Kyauta alongside Cif. All of them had bloodthirsty eyes on them. Panic reached Kopa and the prince stepped back a little. _

_Right in that moment, he came face to face with the rest of the valley pride who all closed in on him. Kopa moved to the back even more as he came to the edge of a cliff and face his downfall. "Come on my children, let's finish our little royal." She called and two figures now stood in the front of the golden male._

_Kopa glanced up and couldn't believe what he was seeing. "T-Tani? Yaki?" He didn't' get any further and the two females in front shoved him over the edge of the cliff. Kopa's eyes widened as he fell and screamed at the top of his lungs. "AHHHHHHH!"_

"AH!"

Kopa awoke by dawn with a loud gasp as he shook up his head desperately trying to gain some air. He checked nearly all of his body parts to see if he was alright. _Phew! Alright calm down, it was… just a dream._ The prince thought and got to his feet right away. All he gave away was a short glance to his left to see if Mwehu was still asleep. Quickly and with swift movements, he rushed through the green plant life until he reached the small creek which he often used as a drinking place.

Taking another glance into the water and at his reflection, the prince sank his tongue into the water closing his eyes and enjoying the cool liquid going through his throat. And yet he thought he had successfully gotten rid of the demons of his past. Even after living most of his life in this jungle, he still had memories of his past life running through his head.

"Kid?"

Kopa stopped at once and ripped his eyes wide open. He didn't recognize the feminine voice but knew that there were only a handful of animals that knew him by this name. Slowly, he directed his glare towards the source of the voice. On the other side of the creek stood a young lioness with tan/cream fur and brown eyes. She looked familiar to him but the golden furred male couldn't lay a paw on what it was.

"Don't you remember me?" She asked with a gentle voice and wanted to walk over the creek. Yet she stopped as she saw Kopa backing of a little. "Don't worry. I wouldn't recognize me either; we haven't seen each other in years." The female added and Kopa already puzzled trying to figure who it was.

And if someone had kicked in a door in his memory, he seemed to realize the identity of this female. "Y-Y… Yaki?" The golden furred prince stuttered a bit perplexed to see her, the only cub back in the valley that seemed to be worried about him. The lioness giggled a bit nervous as she gave away that Kopa was indeed right. The male continued to stutter out his words. "Wha-what… what are you doing here?"

Frankly, it wasn't the best thing she wanted to hear once she spotted the other lion settling down at the creek. But she wasn't going to complain. "I could ask you the same. Do you live here nearby?" She asked right ahead and took a few steps forward now standing with both her front paws in the water.

"Yeah, I do actually! Hehe." He chuckled slightly "…it's a small world after all." Kopa answered looking around the jungle that surrounded the two young lions. He faced her again and continued. "You know, it is good to see you. You look great." The prince added without any kind of undertone in his voice.

Yaki walked over to him and stopped to give him a quick nuzzle which surprised Kopa a little bit. "I'm going to throw that comment back to you." She added to her motion and actually made the male blush.

They departed and Kopa turned his head from side to side. "What did you do over the last couple of years? How did you get out of that valley? What happened to Taikamu?" He asked all out at once now realizing that the once adolescent lioness was not alongside Yaki.

She turned away slightly showing that she was a bit embarrassed to say this. "She… actually she is not that far away, I… uhm… caught your scent… and since it seemed familiar I…" Yaki had to blush a little. "I decided to go investigate… and found you."

Kopa raised an eyebrow before turning his face into broad smile. Aha! Well since you're here, I can show you were I actually live. Do you want to?"

The tan/cream lioness took a position right beside him and giggled nervous. "I would love that."

* * *

In the wild, male lions were known to not be the most active and enthusiastic type. For the most part of the day, male lions were in dazing underneath the sunlight. But then again, there were times when those kinda lazy guys actually were acting and moving pretty fast.

Tojo and Malka were head to head running through the kingdom and once in a while throwing challenging smirks towards the other one. The afternoon in the pride lands was beautiful with the sun hilling the landscape in the typical golden light. Up in front, the duo saw a tree lying flat on the ground giving the two adults a rather huge obstacle.

The ochre furred one turned to the side and raised one eyebrow to his friend in a mischievous way as if he was saying. _Let's see if you still got it. _Picking up speed, Tojo charged forward for the tree and pushed himself away from the ground with all his might. Malka followed his example and dived on his paws underneath a giant branch with his chin almost sliding over the ground.

Both came to a halt heavy breathing and looking back on the giant tree providing them with a nice finishing obstacle on their path. The two made eye contact before the both laughed out loud and Malka shoved one of his front paws into his friend's side. "It feels good to get this old bones going again." The pale orange lion said out loud shaking a few left over leafs out of his black mane.

"Old bones? Don't let Simba hear that. You know how sensible he is getting when we talk about our age." Tojo replied raising his eyebrows in a playful way. It took a while before the adult twisted and turned his head searching the area around him. "Where is Simba anyway? Wasn't he right behind us a few moments ago?"

Malka followed his gazes as he too was unable to see their golden furred king beside them. "You got that right. Hey Sim! Where are you buddy?" he called out walking a few feet away from the ochre colored lion.

Samba for his part stood still behind the tree on the other side of where Malka and Tojo were at. He had his right front leg pressed against the wood as he tried to calm himself down. This was not the first time it happened to him in the last few weeks. During his run, he started to lose his vision. Everything was blurry and he could feel his heart pumping heavier and heavier.

The voices of his friends calling out to him where reaching his ear even though they seemed distant and far away. Simba could feel his vision getting clear again and he pushed himself away from the trunk. He was about to walk around and face his friends when he started to cough. It was not one of those where some dust had reached his lungs before. This was coming from deeper down from his body.

The king almost dropped to the ground as he sensed his lungs almost flying out alongside with something else he dropped onto the ground. Simba opened his wet and teary eyes as his auburn orbs filled with shock. _Blood! _The king had really coughed blood and dropped it in the sandy ground. With quick thinking, he used some water from a puddle alongside some leafs to wipe the blood away. He exhaled shortly and relieved before stepping around the obstacle and revealing himself to his friends.

"Ah, there he is!" Malka shouted out as he saw his king coming into view with an exhausted look on his face. "You don't look so good. What were you doing back there?" the other male added observing samba carefully.

With a quick glance to the ground, Simba gave Malka an assuring and smiling expression. "Don't worry about it. Everything's fine." The king lied walking along and passing the two other males and leaving them back staring at the golden furred male.

But Simba knew that everything was not fine. He knew that there was something far more serious going on with him than he would accept himself. Not to mention that his condition was getting worse from time to time. He knew that Nala had already taken notice of his behavior. But in his mind, he couldn't go to Rafiki and openly admit to the pride that he was getting severely ill. Not until he had everything arranged and put in place for Kiara and Kovu to take over. And Kovu needed the most work in that.

Simba turned his head around to look at the two lions still standing in the back as he shouted out to them. "Come on guys! We should at least be back before the dry seasons don't you think?"

By shaking up their heads, Tojo and Malka shrugged their shoulders and followed Simba back towards pride rock. Once in a while, both of them eyed their king with the corner of their eyes getting suspicious about the strangely faked happy mood of the golden furred male.

* * *

With the daily sun setting high above the jungle, Kopa led Yaki around his home. The lost prince found it strange to have the young lioness having to walk alongside him with her being the only lion-company he ever had beside Mwehu. Even though, the two had not spend that much time together, aside from the daily fighting practices they had to sustain, Kopa could feel back then that the young female was way different than the rest of Cif's and Kyauata's pride members.

"So… do you still have memories of the time in the valley?" The voice of the tan/cream lioness brought the prince out of his thoughts and he turned his head to look at her.

Much to his surprise, Kopa was a lot taller than Yaki. It was something that he had not experienced that much since he had always been a more tiny and weak than normal cubs. But then again, he could tell that the years out here had helped him with building and shaping his body. "Yes… every night!" He then admitted with a bowed head. "What about you?"

The young female glanced as the two crawled through a small opening in a bush and now walked along at the feet of a small cliff surrounded by trees. "Yes, with years going by, I still can't believe that I actually was enthusiastic about that place and how I thought we would turn out as confident lions later on." She closed her eyes for a short moment shaking her head and not believing how she agreed with the treatment Malam and Zaki gave them.

"I guess a lot of those cubs would not believe today that they were in for this." Kopa added a bit surprised by his choice of words, it sounded almost… responsible. By stepping through another bush, the two found themselves back onto the clearing where he could see the giant tree in the distance.

Kopa smiled towards the female and extracted his paw signing Yaki to move forward. "And here we are!" He said gentle and with a smile on his face. The prince then turned his head up as he spotted movement on top of the tree and recognized it at once as Konde.

The leopard was about to walk over a branch as he spotted the two figures coming through the bush and padding over to their home. "Hey Mwehu… look what the cat dragged in!" He called down and smiled while the pale cream male got up from his sleeping place. Mwehu raised his eyebrows with curiosity glancing over to the young lion and the female at his side. After realizing what was going on, he rolled his eyes, shrugged his shoulders and turned back around.

"Just ignore them!" Kopa whispered into Yaki's ear and led her closer to his friends. It was then that Konde came climbing down and landed on his paws directly in front of them. "Well Konde, I'd like you to meet Yaki!" The golden furred male started with a gesture of his paw to the female lying down at his side. "You actually have met before."

Konde sat down in front of the two before he observed Yaki as his face lit up shortly after. "Yes I remember. You and that other lioness were helping us back in the valley." He said gently while giving her a friendly nod. "So that's what you have been up to for the whole day huh?" He slapped a pw on Kopa's back hinting into a certain direction that the prince didn't want to make clear at that moment.

"Don't be so dumb, the guy doesn't even know what a female looks like." It came from inside the tree and Konde rolled his eyes annoyed.

"Unlike some other inhabitants of this jungle, I don't question the intelligence and intellect of other creatures when I myself am barely able to solve a simple calculating task."

"Are you even listening to yourself?" It came from the back again as a counter. "I sure hope so, cause then nobody else would." Mwehu answered mockingly with the leopard giving sarcastic glances to the back.

Yaki and Kopa watched and listened carefully before the lioness turned to the side and brought her muzzle closer to his ear before whispering. "Where did you get these guys?" She asked with a chuckle of amusement.

The golden furred male for his part closed his eyes and giggled as well while his two friends continued to throw insults and mental challenges at each other. "You know, after a few years… it actually get's kinda hilarious!" He said moving to his feet and grinning down on the female. "I see that this is going nowhere. Let's get going."

Quickly and with a small glance over to the two arguing felines, Yaki got to her paws as well following the prince up to the point where they could sneak away through the bush. "I think I better head back to Taikamu and see what she's been doing. Can we meet each other again?" She asked unable to hold back the hope in her eyes.

Kopa gazed to the side before facing her again and grinning a little bit. "I guess, what about tonight. Can you meet me back where we met this morning?" He directed his head to the sky thinking about when would be the right time. "How about three hours after sunset?" He added on giving the female lion a nonchalant glance.

Yaki herself moved closer and gave the male lion a nuzzle on the side before throwing him a gentle and lovely glare. "See you tonight… kid!" She said before moving quickly through the bush and departing from the golden colored prince.

Blushing a little bit, Kopa trotted back into the way where he came from until he got back to the tree where he found Konde and Mwehu staring over at him with seizure eyes. The prince stopped dead in his tracks as he spotted the two glaring holes into his chest.

There was a difference between teaching a cub in the way of surviving and making them ready for the wild out there. But there was one thing that Kopa had never learned from these guys was the way of romance. Up to this point, the only female cub he had come across that he would have considered to be together was Vitani, but she was out of reach since she was far away in the pride lands.

Yaki seemed to be a nice girl and maybe he could become friends with her so that Konde and Mwehu wouldn't be the only company for him around here. Moving his left front paw through his brownish/red mane, Kopa coughed for a short moment to clear up the tension along the scene.

But before the young prince could start, Mwehu put his paw upwards and shouted out to the younger lion. "Uh-uh!" He simply said and pointed his paw at Konde beside him. "Him!"

Konde for his part shook up his head and stared over at the lion. "Why me?"

"As far as I can tell, you are the one with the feeling for the ladies." Mwehu added with a sly smirk on his face.

"What are you talking about?"

The scarred lion narrowed down his eyes staring the leopard to his side into the ground. "Who was the female that wanted to turn down her lonesome life and start living together with you?"

"Legadema?"

"No!"

"Manana!"

"No!"

"Uzuri?"

"No!"

"Matahuri!"

"No!"

For a short moment, the two just stood dead in their positions and just glared at each other shooting darts into each other's eyes. "Okay, you got me." Konde then said gesturing wildly with his front legs.

Mwehu turned around to the young prince with a wide grin. "No further questioning required your honor!" He turned his face to the prince while Konde walked over to Kopa and put a paw on his shoulder before the scarred feline spoke out. "Listen kid, if you want to learn how to win the heart of a lioness. You keep close to leopard leather here. He'll teach you!"

Konde shot him a last angry glare before shoving the young adult along while giving him some flirting tips.

* * *

Vitani was still upset for the events earlier the day. She still wasn't sure if she had overreacted and maybe should have apologized to Naima and Nuru. But then again, the young tan lioness had never taken back a thing in her life. Only once when she tried to apologize in front of Simba back when Kopa had died. The sun was setting on the horizon and Zira's daughter walked through the veldt with her head still hanging low.

She was so deeply sunken in her thoughts that she didn't hear the masculine voice calling out to her. "Vitani! Wait up!"

She didn't respond at all when he first called out to her. Only after he had caught up with her and jumped at her side nudging her with his nose into her shoulder did she look up. "Oh, it's you Kovu." Vitani responded with her ears hanging flat in the air.

The dark brown young adult could tell that what he had heard over the day from the other lionesses was true. He had a sorry and caring expression on his face before he shoved her to the side with his shoulder. "I heard what happened this morning… do you wanna' talk about it?"

All he received was a denying stare from his sister which told him a very distinct _no_! "I actually don't, it's not that kind of a big deal anyway." She continued turning away and shaking her head.

"I know that it's nothing big." Her brother answered following her and coming yet to another halt beside the tan lioness. "But I think it might be best for us to address this before it becomes something big." Kovu's voice was calm and caring and he showed Vitani with every word that he really meant it.

Raising one eyebrow, Vitani brought her head loser to the male. "Kiara has talked to you didn't she?" She added and Kovu faced the ground.

"Can you blame her?" He added with a sly smirk which made Vitani join on it.

The tan female sighed for a short moment as she sat down together with her brother. "I'm sorry Kovu but… I still got the feeling that I don't belong here. I mean ever since the prides got united, I tried my best to get along and integrate with the other pridelanders but… it doesn't seem to work." Kovu had never seen his sister braking up in front of him. "I mean… by now Kivuli is only talking to me when he has to."

Seeing his sister troubled like this made him feel really sorry. "Come on, it isn't that bad."

Once again turning away, the tan female shook her head up out of the sudden. There was a mixture of sarcasm and offense in it as she spoke up. "Yeah sure, you have Kiara and the others have Niyani and Tojo. But where does that leave me? The only one who ever did care for me was Nala. And she has way more important things to worry about than to watch over someone who used to play with her son."

And as if someone had implanted a thought in his head, he suddenly rushed forward and got serious on the spot. "Wait a minute… are you going to leave us aren't you?"

Vitani shook back her head as she heard her brother talk and extracted her front paws in denial. "What? No! I would never do that." She assured him continuing to explain. "I didn't stand up to mother and received her wrath to back away from you. Come on Kovu you know me better than that." She bowed her head and faced the ground again. "It's just that… thinking back; I wished mom would have never met Hiyana."

At once, Kovu rushed up to his sister and pulled her into a tight embrace with the two staying in their position for quite a while.

* * *

In the jungle, Kopa had reached the destination where he was supposed to meet Yaki that night. Of course the prince had never been on a date before. And even if he was going to deny it, _this _was a date. I was useless to say that Kopa actually was quite nervous. It didn't get better once he saw the tan/cream female appearing in front of him and giving him a warm welcoming smile. Kopa returned it and went to his paws.

The two walked over to each other as Yaki rubbed the top of her head against the male's chin. They looked into each other's eyes before the lioness spoke out. "So… here we are huh?" Kopa gave her a nod before she started to speak again. "So, do you have any plans?"

Kopa thought for a moment as he went through the possibilities of what they could do for the night. After what seemed like an awkward moment of silence, the prince remembered that one night he had with his father where they just laid in the grass and played cloud guessing. He quickly raised his head to the sky and smiled as he saw several clouds moving along that were perfect for that game.

"Actually, I have. Have you ever done cloud guessing?"

Yaki glanced slightly to the side thinking about what the prince just had said before she faced him again. "I never heard of that. How do you do that?"

The golden furred male smiled at her and offered to follow him. "I'll show you come on." He aid and led the young adult lioness towards the feet of a small hill which evolved above the crowns of the huge trees.

_[Hours later]_

The two young lions lay on top of the small hill as Kopa kept his gaze directed to the stars with smile on his face. Something tickled the fur on his chest and he directed his head down on the sleeping lioness snuggled up to him. He had his front legs wrapped around her. Just like he thought hours ago, Yaki was a nice and caring person and he could actually believe to spend more time with her in the future.

He didn't know what had come over him out of the sudden. But suddenly, he found himself flooded with memoires and flashbacks.

He could see his father and him rolling around in the grass on that one night, he could see his mother telling to stay down as they tried to sneak up on a group of lionesses in front of pride rock. The scene changed to him looking at his mother's belly and how she told him that she was giving birth to another cub. Right then, he could see himself running through yellow and green grass alongside two other cubs. One was dark brown colored male cub and the other…

"Vitani!"

Yaki right beside suddenly shook up her head in surprise as she could feel the male tensing up and suddenly rolling away from her with a rush. "What's wrong kid?" She asked gently seeing as how Kopa was suddenly sitting straight up and couldn't deny tears from rolling down his eyes. She got up herself and sat down beside him putting a paw on his shoulder.

"Something that… just keeps coming back whenever I think I'm at peace." Seeing and feeling as how the female didn't quite get what he meant. Kopa turned around and faced her again. "Tell me Yaki, what was your life back before Zaki and Kyauta picked you up?" His tone had gone really stern and serious while she thought about what he asked. "I mean, how did you end up with those two?"

The tan/cream lioness pondered and padded forth coming to halt in front of him. "I… my pride was taken over by another male from another territory. Since I was very small, my mother had to leave with me since…" She didn't have to finish as she could tell that the prince already understood. "She died short after from a disease." Her voice got sad and the golden furred male already regretted that he asked. "The last thing my mother did was to find Kyauta and Zaki before handing me over to them."

Tears came tripping down her cheek again and Kopa shoved his paw over her head. She began to rub her head into his fur as the two slowly rolled over the floor before Kopa started licking the back of her head. In about the same time, he shifted his body until he lied on top of the tan/cream female's back. But then again, he shook his head and turned away from Yaki once more. "I'm sorry… but I can't do this." Even though, he had his head turned away from her, he could feel and see the disappointment in the female's eyes.

"Does it have to do with how you got this?" Yaki came around and touched the marks on the prince's cheeks. Yet he pulled away again quickly twirling his face into the other direction. "I know that your parents think you are dead." She said with a weak smile trying to understand why the prince was so denying out of the sudden.

Kopa narrowed his eyes before trying to stare into her. "What's bothering you?" He asked stern and desperate to know what she meant.

"I want to know what happened to you that even after all these years your parents thought you were dead. You never came back and made them that you are alive after all." She asked in curiosity while sitting straight up on her spot.

He should have known that this would come. And though he should have been more understanding for the questions of the young lioness, his impulsive old self came back into the play and he straightened up even more. "I couldn't go back to my parents. I… I did something that… can't be taken back. It's something that I have to live with." She tried to comfort him with a nuzzle but he pulled away. "Sorry, but given what made me come here and stay is something you can't be a part in."

His words struck a deep into Yaki's heart. She rushed forward and had her nose only inches away from Kopa trying to any sign of him not telling the truth. The moment lasted for a long time until the female widened her eyes and realized that the lost prince was in no way trying to back away from his point of view. "So… this is it?" She asked sad and stared at the sudden bitterness that filled the male's face.

"Sadly… yes!" Kopa said gentle but didn't try to show any sign of regret.

Yaki for her part was about to turn away when she once again brought her head under his chin and whispered to him. "I hope that someday… you can forgive yourself Kid!" She gave away while the golden lion then stared into the distance.

"Kopa!"

"What?" She asked as she backed away.

"Call me Kopa." He answered pulling one edge of his muzzle upwards.

She was surprised to see him giving her that small smile. And even she could smirk a little after finally hearing his real name. "That's a nice name. Where does it come from?"

Kopa at once narrowed his eyes regretting once again that he had given her his real name as he was now forced to reveal more and more parts of his past. "It means 'Shape of a heart'. My parents gave it to me because I have this little mark on my head that's shaped like a heart. It is a pridelander word."

As soon as Yaki heard the word 'pridelander' she snapped her head back in surprise and astonishment gasping for a short moment. "You… you are a pridelander!"

The golden male raised one eyebrow hearing the words of the female and not realizing what the big deal about his home was. "You heard of the pride lands?" he asked suddenly intrigued and interested in knowing what other lions outside of his father's kingdom thought about it.

"During the short times with my parents and the years alongside Taikamu I often heard other animals talk about the kingdom of king Simba and how peaceful and great it was to live there and how a lot of lions wished they would have given the privilege to be accepted in the kingdom." Kopa felt flattered that lions held such a high opinion on the kingdom he was born and the fact how high they thought of his father and his pride. But he couldn't think further as Yaki continued to speak. "So you do know king Simba?"

_And here I thought I could avoid this. _"He… is my father." He revealed and at once, Yaki had a problem to prevent her jaw from dropping to the ground. "I know that you're meaning well. But I just can't make room for anybody else in my life beside those two guys. I let the ones I loved down before. I don't want to do this right now."

The female could feel that there was no try to cover anything or even push away. It was his true self that was speaking to her and revealed his inner feelings. Yaki gave away a warm smile nodding her head and showing that she understood what Kopa felt. Continuing to stare at each other, Yaki moved her right front paw over the prince's cheek and spoke up. "I understand. But when you're ready to talk, I'll be there for you."

Both young adults embraced each other before the beige tan/cream lioness departed from him walking back towards the brushwood she had come from. "I guess I see you around… your highness." She added and vanished in the brush.

Kopa for his part watched her leave before he shook his head in anger and frustration to himself. He narrowed his eyes and snarled as he thought to himself. _I'm not a prince anymore. Princes don't cause the deaths of their grandmothers and don't enrage their parents._

* * *

**Author's note: **The names Legadema and Manana are actually coming from two documentaries about leopards that I watched a few months ago and found really well done. Legadema is from "Eyes of the leopard" Ironically narrated by Jeremy Irons. The other is called "Leopard queen". You should really check those two out. The rest of the names are just made up on the spot.

And to answer a question popping to your mind, I don't know if I'm going to run with the Vitani/Kopa program. It's not settled for a hundred percent. And yes, there are a lot of things that could change even in the last chapters.


	6. Trouble in paradise

Good evening ladies and gentlemen.

Once again, thanks for the comments and the PM's. it's really appreciated.

This chapter might seem like filler since we're not advancing with the story that much. But I think this is necessary before we start full force with what you are all expecting to happen ;)

**Starzinmieyez: **We're going to explore the nature of Vitani for a bit in today's chapter. From all the ones coming back to the pride lands, she was the one that had it the hardest to fit in. Kovu had Kiara, Spotty and Dotty were already nearly adults when they left and the others basically were completely new in this kingdom. I think Incarnate Firefly went for a similar approach in his story "Kopa's legacy" If you haven't, check it out.

**Reldor:** Hehe, maybe it wasn't really the best move to do. But then again, Simba and Nala did it on their first date. And he is the result of that. If only there was some sort of event or tragedy upon of the horizon that would force him to face his regrets… oh wait :O

**LionKingFactsGuy2: **Yep he sure is! Simba's stubbornness is going to be addressed in the next two chapters. I actually intended the Manana and Legadema lines to be just a little side note or a reference or maybe more than am easter egg (just like the monkeys Waldorf and Statler) But if you want to, I can work that out ;)

**WOLF: **Thanks a lot! I know that you are not the only one who prefers this pairing instead of other ones. But like I said, it is not completely set where this will go, but there is a tendency.

* * *

Chapter 6: trouble in paradise

Night had settled over the pride lands and the moon's light shined down brightly on the landscape of the kingdom. To anyone that lived in that great place, it was a night just as normal as any other night since the fight between the pridelanders and the outlanders had been. That was for nearly everybody than the queen of the pride lands.

Nala lied on her typical place in the middle of the cave where the little plateau was set and built the spot reserved for the king and queen. Like so many times before, the cream furred lioness had her back leaned against the golden furred side of her mate king Simba. Normally, she would have just laid there with a broad smile on her face enjoying her time with the sweetest male in the world. But that wasn't the case this night.

Her eyes showed a worried expression as she was forced to see Simba lying beside her and struggling in his sleep. She couldn't prevent a tear crawling down her cheek as she observed the king shivering with his whole body like he was about to freeze to death. Nala moved forth and lied down on top of her mate trying to keep him warm with her fur.

But Simba was shaking uncontrollable and began to roll and twirl around on his position. A motion which made the queen grab his head and shake it with her paws. "Simba!" She whispered desperately to make him wake up while not alarming the rest of the pride. "Simba, wake up." Nala said once again before the king finally relaxed and opened his auburn eyes. She sighed in relief after seeing that her mate was finally looking at her with his eyes telling exhaustion and pain. Was her suspicion of him hiding something from her only an idea, the last couple of days made her certain about that.

The golden furred male stared up at her with wide eyes as he was still shivering nd breathing loudly. At once, he realized that she had a tear coming down her cheek and brought his paw up to swipe it away. "Nala!" He whispered back to her. "What's wrong?" His voice was weak and raspy as he asked her just in time before he had to cough again.

"You were shivering like crazy in your sleep." She almost pleaded towards him still lying on top of him to comfort him with the heat of her body. "You can't fool me anymore. There's something wrong with you." She whispered into his left ear while glancing over his head observing the pride sleeping along inside the cave.

Both looked around to their friends careful to not make any of them get suspicious and seeing their king and queen argue in the middle of the night. Simba let his ears drop to the side of his head as he himself knew that sooner or later, he would be unable to hide this from Nala. After all, there wasn't a single person in the pride lands that knew him so well then the cream furred lioness. He was so glad to call his mate and queen.

He stared up at her and gave away a small smirk which he tried to bring over as assuring and calming. Yet the queen pointed her head to the outside of their cave signing Simba to follow her. "Let's continue this outside." Nala got up from her spot and slowly and carefully marched out of their home. Simba followed her and the two stopped in front of each other at the feet of the ledge.

"I thought we did agree to never keeping any secrets from each other. I thought we could tell each other anything." Her voice was soft and she stared at the golden male with real worry for him. "Did you really think that you could hide this sickness from me forever?"

Simba directed his head to the ground and shook it slowly. "Listen Nala, I didn't mean to bother you any more than necessary. Kiara had just become a mother and you have enough to do with leading the lionesses and the organization of the hunts that I didn't want to bother you with my problems. That's something I have to carry around." He knew that his wife was not going to let go of this and was ready to hear what she was going to answer.

And he was going to be disappointed. "Simba!" She started with a sigh and the golden furred male could already hear what the lecturing voice of the love of his life coming to him. "Simba, you seem to be the most stubborn lion I have ever seen before." There was a light tune of amusement in her voice as she spoke out to him. "I actually thought that you had stopped to go back into your one lion show. But I guess that was wrong."

The king felt the head of the lioness rubbing against his side before her aqua orbs met the auburn ones of Simba. "You are still trying to do everything on your own." She touched both his cheeks with her paws and continued. "And you don't have to; Kiara and me are there to help you. With whatever problem is going to be."

"But what could you do in order to help me with this?" The golden male answered shortly and shook his head slowly from one side to another.

For a short moment, Nala felt the need to lecture him again. But by now, the queen found it useless to try to get this habit of Simba just pulling too much weight on his own shoulders than he should. She started to smirk and rubbed her cheek against his head while she giggled. "How could I ever think that you would change?" She said with one half being playful and the other still showing concern for her husband. "But promise me that you go to Rafiki in the morning." She then added with urge and pleading.

"Relax Nala, I'm sure it's going to be fine. I didn't leave you for the last five years; I'm not intending to leave you soon. I promise!" The two lied down together as they spent the rest of the night together under the moonlight and star filled sky.

* * *

When she looked down on how her life begun, how it developed and how she ended up in the end, there were only a few things that Kula regretted and would have taken back. Coming from living in the greatest place in the world, seeing it dying in front of her eyes as she grew up, and finally being forced to flee it and start a new life in a completely different place made her reflect very often over the last months.

Kula and Chumvi could look down on a very peaceful and happy life in the north lands. They had become parents of three independent and healthy cubs. One of them was in serious relation with the daughter of the prince of this kingdom. One of their daughters was integrating herself very well with the lions inhabiting this land. And her second daughter Moyo was following her siblings in any way. Thinking about all the things that had happened in the past, Kula was glad that she could enjoy these last years and the ones lying in front of her.

The caramel female was prowling through the yellow grass as she had her eyes set on a small group of gazelles. She did not intend to go hunting right now. But like every lioness, she was not going to turn down a god chance for a quick catch. She observed the behavior of the animals closely as she brought her tail down as a sign that she was willing to get some prey. Just like so many times in the past, she set every paw in front of the other one closing in on the animals.

Kula was about to start into a sprint as she saw a beige flash coming from the left and darting towards the same gazelle that she had set on. By now, Kula was able to adjust with ease to new situations. And as she saw who the figure was that interfered in her hunt, she smirked and joined in. With her paws giving all they got she chased them and made short eye contact with the other hunter as she closed in on the gazelle. With a quick jump, she grabbed the animal pulling it to the ground with her teeth sunk in the right hind leg.

Slowly, the two landed on the ground and the second figure came from above enclosing with his fangs around the gazelle's muzzle. The struggle for life was short until the two lions had managed to get their kill. Kula looked up and stared into the yellow eyes of her partner in this hunt. "You know, for a moment I thought you were going to work against me Itshe. Seems like you've been a real help actually!" She said out to the beige male who smirked backwards.

"Actually, I had no idea that it was you. I only realized that once I saw that animal dropping down with you hanging at the back. But since we both have done this together, would you mind if we share this one with each other." He replied with a slight smirk. His voice was relaxed while he was still breathing a bit loud from the previous hunt.

Kula gave away a quick nod and lied down beside the dead gazelle and started eating on the animal's flesh. Once in a while, both of the two lions raised their heads and stared over at each other. While the caramel female had her thoughts drifting back to Chumvi and how he was getting along with marking their territory.

On the other side was Itshe who was again cursing inside. _How did I not see her stalking that animal? She is the last one I can sustain these weeks._He looked around to get a grip on the area the two had ended up in. He could see a river passing by not far away from them. The two found them sitting again in this hilly landscape with spread trees all over the place. "So… I have to say that you have a really good hunting technique." He complimented her and the lioness smiled back at him a once.

"Thanks! I had real good teachers in my youth." She answered before getting back down on her meal.

For quite a while now, Itshe had thought about what to do once he was alone with one of the two, would it be Kula or Chumvi. The fact that it happened right now was not in his plan, but the beige male had learned to adjust to situations rather quickly. "By the way, I see that Chumvi is not with you. Where is he anyway?" He hated to say the name Chumvi but he had no choice if he wanted to stay unknown.

Kula choked down another slice before speaking out to him. "He is out on patrol. Chummy used to do that quite often back when we lived in the pride lands." The caramel lioness answered relaxed without a sign of getting uncomfortable.

With a short nod, Itshe acknowledged and continued. "It must have been hard to leave that place and come here." It was a weak attempt to hurt her mentally without spilling everything but it was a good opportunity to test her.

"It was indeed, we had to leave all our friends behind and come here. Thanks to you, we could actually acclimate ourselves." She said with yet another smile as they finished their meal on the gazelle and Itshe got up to stretch himself.

The male lion turned his head towards the river nearby and started padding over to them. "You know, I could go for a swim. What about you?" He said with playful laugh which caused Kula to tilt her head to the back.

Kula's eyes locked on the passing waters and she opened her muzzle to speak. "Thanks but… I pass on this one!" She answered skeptical and turned her back on the river.

There was something in her eyes that made Itshe go all on alert with all his senses. He could tell that there was a certain amount of fear going though the caramel female. He could tell that she wasn't scared, but she was afraid of the water that was running by. _Could it be? _He thought and remembered that last night he spent in the pride lands. "What's wrong? Are you scared?" He asked almost playful knowing that he was taking a risk with his out of character childish behavior.

The lioness on the other hand shrugged together a bit as she was unsettled with the way Itshe was talking to her. "I wouldn't say that I am scared but… there are some bad memories in my life that go paw in paw with deep waters."

While the beige male showed concern on the inside wanting the female to know that he felt for her and cared, he showed delight and sarcasm on the inside. _If I could tease her just a little but more… _He thought and sat down right beside her. "What happened?" He started lightly. "Did you get your coat stained with water and mud and had to bath for much longer than you wanted to?" Itshe joked knowing about the pain and the fear that was going through his old friend back in that night.

Kula's ears fell flat to the side of her head and she wasn't sure if she could tell the male lion the story that went along in her last moment together with Jiwe. "No, it actually was the worst night in my entire life. One of my best friends, or at least one cub that I thought was one of my best friends tried to drown me in a small waterhole. If Chumvi wouldn't have been there, the great kings know how it would have ended."

_Oh, just wait for a few moons and you're going to think different. _The beige lion turned his head to the side and eyed the lioness with faked care. "Oh dear… if I had known. What happened to that guy?" Itshe continued as he tried the conversation going.

"I don't know, he vanished the same night as the incident happened. We never heard from him ever again." She caught Itshe glaring to the side with a slight chuckle which should have set her off but didn't. Against Kula's better judgment, she found this northlander extremely trustworthy. Something that didn't go unnoticed by her daughter and Itshe's son as well. "You know Itshe, there's something that I always kinda noticed about you. You seem to be a lot different than the other lions around king Isitha's pride." She started and the male raised his eyebrows slightly. "When I see Ubuvila, Ithunzi and Ingozi walking around, they look a lot stiffer than you do."

Now the male lion laughed a bit more before he answered. "The education of our cubs is very strict. They all get taught respect and politeness so that each one of them becomes a valuable member of our kingdom."

"Mom!"

They heard a voice hale through the distance and calling out for them. Both turned around and found a trio containing of two females and a male lion walking up to them. "Speaking of valuable members." Itshe started getting his muzzle close to the female's ear and almost whispering into it. "I get the feeling that Akili and Kichwa are going to be some nice addition to our pride in the future." He said not really meaning it but had to do this in order to let this over smoothly.

Right in that moment, the younger beige lion came over to them and greeted his father with a bow before doing the same to the older female. "Father! We came across prince Ingelozi a short while ago. He wants to have a word with you as soon as possible at king's hill." He spoke put and Itshe got to his paws at once.

"I guess that's my cue. It was nice spending time with you." He bowed politely and Kula could help but chuckle at the behavior of her future family member, considering the fact how Akili and Ithunzi got along over the last months. Both northlander bowed to the females and began their walk back into the direction of king's hill.

Kula looked around her tow daughter as they threw her sly and curious glances. "What?" She asked a bit taken aback by the almost mistrusting glares of her cubs.

Akili throw a mischievous glare to her sister before she opened her muzzle to talk. "Does dad know that you were out her all on your own with Itshe?" She said narrowing down her eyes and getting pretty obvious of what she was hinting to.

Yet the older female got to her paws and walked straight towards their children before giving them a clear stare and sign for them to back down at once. "Did you just accuse me of infidelity?" She could see the red eyed caramel furred female gulp a little as she saw her mother getting angry at her and even growling for a short moment. "I know what this looked like but… if you think I would ever run away from your father with someone else, you're dead wrong."

With that, she turned her head away from the group and faced the direction of which the two males had gone. Her eyes locked on the older male and how he was walking alongside his son. She couldn't lay a paw on it but… she did feel a strange familiar hospitality when she was along with Itshe. And out of the sudden, she somehow felt a bit worried.

* * *

"Come on aunt Vitani! Play with us!" Chaka called as he continued to chew on the ear of the tan furred young lioness who laid on a rock beside a waterhole. The sun was currently hiding behind a thin blanket of clouds as it was indicated that it was in the middle of the day. The dark brown cub contied to pull while the older lioness still rested her head on her front paws. Little did the young lion know that Vitani was already playing and smirked inside as she wanted to know how long the young ones breath was.

A few yards to the side sat another group of lions and watched the scene with amusement. "Come on Chaka, leave her alone let's see if you can take on real lion." Their father Kovu called as he got to his paws and started straight for the dark brown cub and his golden sister Shani. Their playfulness was commented by the tan female with a short laughter before she raised her head and padded over to the group of males now watching the three royals playing and running around.

She liked those two little lions. Every time she saw them, she forgot how painful and misleading her own cubhood had been. Even she herself didn't know the true reasons why she was not enjoying it beeing back in the pride lands as the rest of her pride.

It didn't take long before she was greeted by a pale golden male with a light brown mane around his head. He was smiling broadly as he saw the new addition to their group sitting down beside them even though she had her face narrowed down to a stern and bored expression. "What's up with the whiny face?" Mbio asked in his typical lighthearted way throwing a huge grin over to her.

"It's not whining. I just woke up with a bad mood." She answered knowing that it wouldn't keep the other three away from asking her how she was feeling. And knowing that, she added quickly before anyone of them had the chance… "And would you please stop trying to make me feel better. I am perfectly fine."

Mto and Mbio exchanged glances knowing that she was lying. "Whatever you say Tani!" Sabini's son answered and found himself facing the tan female at once.

She had her eyes glowing red with annoyance as she growled at him with anger. "DON'T… call me Tani!" Vitani snapped and Mbio snapped back within seconds. Zira's daughter laid back down and waited for a short moment until the two males had settled down themselves again. "Why did I even bother to come out here and spent the day alongside you three loud mouths?"

Having one eyebrow going down and the other one going up, the pale golden lion tilted his head to the side forming an answer inside his head. "That brings me to a question. You seem to be so distant over the last months. But only when you are not around the two little ones over there. Back when we tried to get you and your friends into our pride, you seemed really doing well. Even Kivuli over there started to get down with the fact of you and your brother living along with us. What happened that you stopped to laugh and take things lightly over the last months?"

Vitani stared to the side have a strange case of déjà vu going through her head. Yet she had no intentions in getting into the same conversation that she had with her brother before. Instead, she went for a more goofy and playful approach. "Since when do you get all that serious and concerned anyway? Aren't you supposed to be the goofball of this trio down here?" She added with a smirk and she could see Mto and Kivuli slowly turning their heads to their male friend with the edges of their muzzles pointed upwards.

"Does it matter?" Mbio threw back at her a bit offended knowing that this wasn't the first time the lioness was avoiding his approaches like this. It was then that Mto got in between the two again.

"You do realize that you are just throwing questions at each other without answering to what the other one is asking?" He himself asked to both of them rolling to his side and rubbed his belly. Both of the debating lions turned towards their friend and had their eyes opened wide. "If I didn't know any better, Mbio is just in this to challenge you to a verbal duel."

Yet Mbio narrowed his eyes again and started replying to his friend. His voice got a bit annoyed knowing how he sometimes had a problem with the all goody–good behavior of Tojo's son. When he thought about it for a few times, Mto sometimes was behaving even worse than Naima did. And she at one point learned to be not so all knowing. In his mind, he had these conversations with the tan female too often in the past and was determined to end it here.

"Actually not… I'm just trying to find out why Vitani is so stubborn to accept the duties of living in a pride. I want to know why she is always this angry and nasty to other without a reason and that…" He stopped mid-sentence as he realized that he spoke out more than he actually wanted to say. He slowly turned his head to look at the tan furred lioness and see what she had to say about his statements.

Vitani had her head jerked back, her mouth hanging wide open and her eyes being as wide as they could go and filled with anger. "I'm too stubborn; I'm too stubborn for the duties of a pride?" She was enraged as she almost shouted out to the pale golden male. "Who are you to tell me about duty in a pride? You're telling me that I am angry for no reason." She stepped forward forcing the male to go backwards. "You are easy to talk. Growing up in the outlands was the worst thing I had ever happen to me in my life. You got to grow up in a world of peace where you never had to fight for in your life."

She didn't know if it was something that had boiled up inside her or if it was just this one occasion that made her snap. Yet the tan female wasn't going to stop. "I on the other hand, lost everything. My best friend is gone, my brother is gone, my mother lied to me for my whole life. I tell you, this relay bites on your mind." She was now only inches away from Mbio as she pushed her right front paw into his chest. "So, don't you EVER tell me again of how I don't appreciate living in a pride that it is not ruled by fear and lies."

Right away, Sabini's son bowed his head letting Vitani know that he regretted every word he rushed out earlier. He didn't know where this sudden urge to deform the tan lioness had come from, but he knew that he had to do everything to make it up to her. But he didn't get that far as Vitani turned around and walked into the other direction.

All three of them glanced after her with Mbio turning around and throwing questioning looks to his friends. "I… I-I didn't mean, I mean… I had no idea where that came from." He stumbled over his own thought while Kivuli and Mto just stared back and shrugged their shoulders. "I actually tried to make the situation better when I made it worse." The pale golden male sat down and put both his front paws to the side of his head as he shook it confused. "What have I done?"

* * *

For prince Ingelozi, there was nothing more frustrating than of he was being disappointed or denied of his wishes. He never showed it back when he was a cub or even when he was a young adult. But that was a character treat that got stronger and stronger over the last years where he was taking over some of the duties that his father couldn't take care of himself. The brown male padded back and forth in a small den that was placed in the back of king's hill. It was a spot where lions would come to often and where he could be from himself and use his time to think and plot.

Once all three to four seconds, he directed his gaze to the mouth searching for a sign of the lions he wanted to talk to for the whole day. Ingelozi knew that it was time to

act; he couldn't afford to be delayed any further. The condition of his father was getting worse with every day. It was a wonder that he stayed alive for the last year. But his time was coming soon and the prince knew that time was short.

"You wanted to see me?"

He heard the person of his interest say as he stood in the entrance and glanced at the prince with a stern and determined expression. "Yes Itshe, come in." The brown male continued and the former pridelander stepped forwards sitting down in front of his partner in crime. "If you believe it or not, I consider you one of the most wise and intelligent lions that are living in this place. With that said… I need your advice." The prince admitted knowing that those types of phrases were music to the ears of the most important consultants in the north lands.

Right away, Itshe sensed the sudden feeling of being superior and having the advantage that he felt a small smirk reaching his muzzle and making him stand up. He observed the mimic of the prince as he started padding a few feet away from him. "What can I help you with?" He asked intrigued and interested in what the male had to say.

Ingelozi thought for a moment about how make it clear. "Things are changing around here. There is a certain ambiguity about how the curse out kingdom is taking once my father is no more. I am also worried about events taking place in other areas that are of my concern." He said with his eyes turned away and facing the roof of the den.

Even though, the prince didn't want to be specific about what he was meaning by the last statement, Itshe knew right from the spot what he meant. "You are afraid that certain deeds called in from the past may not be preceded in the way your father and you have intended them to be." He stated and could tell by the abrupt stop of movement from the other male that he was right in every direction.

"One could say that." The brown male replied a bit frustrated. "Unlike other elements of our family, I always wanted to fulfill the wishes and desire of king Isitha, but I fear that there are… certain parts are going to make it extremely difficult for me to achieve his goals. I need your advice off how to proceed with these distractions" Ingelozi was trying to make his statements as cryptic as possible to not give away any more information to the beige lion.

With his right front paw, Itshe rubbed his jaw before he answered in a low and playful tone. "One thing my mentor Scar always said was that you can't afford to have multiple battlefields at the same time. We have to solve these… internal problems first, and then we can concentrate on fulfilling the desires that your father had for his whole life." While the prince continued to stare into the distant wall of the den, the beige male walked into his back and held his muzzle closer to his ear. "But don't rush things, it is most important to first get to know what your opponents and your allies really think and if you can use them for your advantage."

Ingelozi couldn't help but find his voice and the words escaping him as rather comfortable and relaxing. He knew that it was dangerous to trust this former pridelander like this, but it wasn't like he had much of a choice. He needed him. "I see!" He said and turned around to stare at the consultant with angry green eyes. "I am considering what you have said and if it really will be helpful." He got to his feet and walked closer to the entrance. "Now if you'll excuse me. I'm going to have a word with my brother."

Itshe waited until the prince was gone before he began to chuckle slightly knowing that once Ingelozi knew his advice was turning out for the better, he had done his first step in becoming a total equal with the two princes.

* * *

On the outside, Vitani had started to calm down. Even on the inside, she felt a little bit better. She could have never thought that just taking a walk through the kingdom would do so much good for her mood. But then again, she could still feel a certain bitterness to what Mbio had said to her earlier. _How could he say something like that? I know that I didn't behave like the best member of a lion pride over the last months, but I always thought they were the ones that were trying to integrate us into the pride. _Once she started to think closer about all what was going on, she could bring the source of her anger down on one person.

_Mother!_

As much as she was upset at the trio, it was her mother that brought this big divide into the pride. For Vitani, it was like running in circles. Every day, she was confronted with how she was not getting along as well as her brother and the others. She started to keep it to herself while others came towards her and lectured her about how she was not all that integrated. Once they were done, she got into the same though process over and over again. She blamed her mother for her misery before going to sleep only to wake up the next morning and hating her current life.

But the events of this day at least made her realize something. If she wasn't going to change, she would soon end up as her mother. She would be full of hatred and bitterness for any other creature being associated with her. Vitani needed help, even though she was getting help from queen Nala. She had problems that the cream furred lioness didn't know how to fix. She needed help from someone who could feel her pain, who understood her pain.

"Niyani!" Vitani called out as she stopped down at a small waterhole to the side of pride rock. She had seen the caramel female coming down to this place quite often together with Tojo. She was hoping to find her this afternoon as well. The sky was cloud hung and the orange colored sun tinted the landscape in its typical pre evening light.

It took a while until the young adult saw the caramel silhouette of Tojo's mate coming into view and her muzzle forming a gentle smile. "Good evening Vitani, what brings you down here?" She asked as she came over to the younger lioness. Zira's daughter was about to answer when the older female raised here paw and silenced her immediately. "No need to say anything, I already heard." She answered and Vitani shook back her head in surprise.

_Wow, secrets DO really spread fast in this place. _She thought with a raised eyebrow. "What did you hear?" Vitani continued a bit baffled as the older one kept smiling.

Niyani gave away a chuckle before taking a sip from the waterhole. "Just what I've been hearing for the last few months now." She replied putting her head back to walk over to Vitani and sitting down again. "I suppose it was enough this time for you to finally seek someone's advice." Her voice was calm and relaxing which made the tan lioness at her side feel way calmer than all the talks she had with Kovu. "Though the question remains… why did you choose to come to me and not seek comfort in your family?"

The younger tan lioness thought for a moment if she was sure to get what she wanted from Niyani or if she shouldn't have gone to Nafsi or Subira. But then again, Mto's mother knew a pain that no one except for them knew. "Niyani, do… do you… hate your mother?" She asked out right away and decided to go in with the front door.

For only a short moment, Niyani was surprised by this bold outcome and stared at the younger one with wide eyes. But soon after, she relaxed and opened her muzzle to answer. "To be honest with you… I do." She stated and Vitani perked her ears up at once. "I can never forgive her for what she has done to me or Tojo… or even our prides." The caramel lioness got a sad expression on her face as she recalled the events considering her mother and how she ended up living in the pride lands. "I guess it's a feeling that you feel against _your_ own mother."

"Zira!"

"Pardon?"

"She's not my mother anymore… her name's Zira!" Vitani threw in and caught the older female by surprise. "But you're right; I do hate her… even more than you probably hate your own." She faced the ground and was already barely able to control her anger and not to start yelling out at once. The tan female felt a paw lying down on the back of her neck and Vitani could feel the comfort that was meant with this gesture. "It's just that… how did you manage to cope with all the stuff your mother had put you in?" Her eyes were desperate as she could feel herself getting overblown with emotions more and more.

Niyani wrapped her left front leg around her and smiled down on the young adult. "It was difficult to forget. In a certain way, my mother was the reason for the bad things happening to you as well. I can tell you that it certainly helps if you have someone who loves you with everything he has." At once, she wanted to slap her front paw onto her head as she realized what rockslide she might have cut loose.

The two stared right into each other's eyes as she could see the hurt expression on the tan female's face. "That's exactly what I mean; you had Tojo to get you through your hard times. Kovu is living happily with Kiara and me… I lost everything I ever had."

Right away, Niyani pulled her closer and let Vitani sob into her caramel fur. "I know Vitani… but you are not completely true about that. Look around you; you have more than you ever had before. You are healthy and well being. You have your brother alongside you as well as the friends of your youth. You have become an aunt and are a full accepted member in the greatest place of all." Her words were going right through the tan's mind and she felt a sudden feeling of happiness.

"The only thing you have lost is a false home and a mother that only loved for her own good." She gave Vitani yet another broad smile and for the first time in a long time, aside from being along Shani and Chaka, she felt really comfortable and home.

Vitani swiped away a tear from her eye and now stood just a few inches away from each other. "How did I not see that over the last months?" She asked herself half joking yet giving the caramel female a confused out of the sudden. "Wow, I never knew you could be this wise." Finally, she could find her long lost sarcastic humor back as she followed along with the older female lion.

The older female chuckled before responding. "What do you mean wise, what I told you is in no way different to what Nala and the others kept telling you." She said and caught the younger one giving her an even more glad and thankful look.

"Yeah but… none of them really knew what I was going through, what you were going through. And for that, I thank you." She put her head underneath Niyani's chin as the two nuzzled each other with the older one smiling down on the tan female. After they separated, Vitani gave the caramel lioness a quick smile before turning around into the direction of pride rock. "I better get going and find the guys; I guess I owe them an apology."

Niyani answered with a quick nod as the tan young one ran off into the distance. It wasn't much that the older lioness did, but it was enough to finally get back on track with getting along with the rest of the pride.


	7. Setting things straight

And here we are again. Another Sunday and another chapter.

**Reldor: **You can bet he is, but the problem in the north lands reaches far deeper than just Ingelozi and Itshe. Vitani's life is already changing for the better, she's going to be fine… for now.

**LionKingFactsGuy2: **I agree, and Vitani's role in the pride for now will change dramatically once the situation gets more dramatic. People don't liking Itshe is exactly the reaction I want to see from all of you. Well he is the semi-main Villain. And it is going to get worse.

I have not seen that documentary. I'm not that much of a documentary watcher. Once I find one by zapping through my channels, I stay on it. But since I think the one you were mentioning aired first in July 2012. And since I can't find it online, I'm going to have to wait till it appears in Grmany. But the trailer looks promising.

**Starzinmyeyez: **Yeah, the talk with Niyani definitely helped. One could call them 'sisters of fate'.

And now… enjoy reading!

* * *

Chapter 7: setting things straight

For a long time, Simba had tried to avoid this. But with his mate being worried even more every day, he had no choice than to do the unavoidable. The king was lying down underneath the giant acacia tree which belonged to the old mandrill Rafiki who served the kings of the pride lands as a guide, friend and healer. Ever since the golden furred male had spilled out the fact that he was seriously ill, his condition had gotten even worse. His muscles were weak and he could feel his body loosing substance day by day.

But right now, the mandrill was moving his hands over Simba's stomach as he brushed over a strange looking dark spot just behind his left front leg and his ribs. The king had his eyes half opened as he was short of getting to sleep. Once in a while, he turned his head to look at the concentrated gazes of his live long friend. "You have been going at that for over an hour now. Is it THAT bad?" He asked with his old playful self coming out of his voice.

Yet Rafiki didn't really respond as he continued to move his hand down the king's body as his gazes went more and more concerned. "It is not gud' for yu' to be dis' stressed out. Not in yur' condition." He answered finally giving Simba at least some sort of response.

_Not in your condition! That sounds encouraging. _The golden furred male thought in sarcasm as he started to worry even more. A certain part of him was glad that Nala wasn't around right now and didn't have to witness him getting checked by the old shaman. The cream furred queen already had enough to do since she kinda relieved Simba from parts of his duties. "You know, you're not really helping me with relaxing. If you would at least give me something. Could you tell me at least what you think this is?" Simba said rolling shifting his head from side to side searching for the old mandrill and the stuff he was doing to the king.

"I don't kno'!" Rafiki said out after another moment of silence with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

Simba for his part nearly jumped to his paws at once as he heard his old friend talk. Never in his life alog with the mandrill, the king had heard him investigating an illness and not knowing what was going on. "You don't know? What do you mean you don't know? Does this mean that…" The king's eyes grew wide and he almost choked on his own words as he thought this whole thing further. The two animals looked deep into each other's eyes before Simba continued "… do you?"

But the old mandrill gave the king a nuggie while chuckling out loud to himself. "Calm down Simba, nothin' dat' yu' should be tu' worried about!" He tried to assure yet wasn't quite sure if he believed it himself. "Right now, I'm not sur' wat' is wrong wit' yu', but trust old Rafiki, he's goin' to find out." He added with an honest face this time.

When he first felt that he wasn't feeling alright, he never imagined that it would come to a point where he was completely losing control over his whole situation. The king remembered back when he was a cub and how he caught Nala being ill for a few days. But this was way different, the problem here was way more deep than just a stuffed nose and teary eyes.

Slowly, the golden male got up from his spot and stared down into a puddle of water where he could glance down on his reflection. He could see the dark spot beside his front leg. But what was disturbing him more was the fact that he could already see the bones of his jaw and how his skin was lying on even tighter than normal. It was yet another thing that worried the king. _I don't get it, I ate just as much as the rest of my family, maybe even more, and I'm still skinning down._

He was yet cut out of his thoughts as he felt the hand of Rafiki coming down on his shoulder. "Yu' better get som' rest. I'll see yu' in de' mornin'!"

With that, Simba got up from his spot and walked back into the direction of pride rock searching for his family and his queen. This whole meeting with Rafiki didn't go in any way as he was hoping; the fact that even his most intelligent friend was unable to tell how to get the king back to his normal health was really bad news for now. Simba feared to walk back to his family having to tell them the current status of his condition. He especially feared to see the response of those aqua orbs that looked at him with so much love.

_This is going to be a long day._

* * *

Being a male lion; life was always filled with a constant struggle. That was especially true with males that did not have the luxury to live in the pride lands. The joys of taking over a pride of their own were mostly short lived with contestants and rivals always trying to take over your pride. And for those males left that neither lived in a pride or a kingdom, there was always the pressure of being surrounded by enemies and hostile creatures. It was something that Mwehu had to learn very early in his life and never ever forgot. And that although he was the biggest predator in the jungle.

The pale cream male knew the keys to survival and was eager to teach them to the young adult standing in front of him. "Now kid, when it comes to fighting you always have to be ahead of the situation. Keep a clear head and stay focused. If you give in to your emotions, you loose your focus and give your opponent time to play with your mind." He put his left paw to the side of the golden males head and tapped it a few times. "You win your fights in here." He said and pointed down on Kopa's paws. "Not with them!"

But the young prince just rolled his eyes in a slight amount disinterest in what the older of the two was saying. His expression spoke a language indicating that the two lions had been into this conversation before. Above the two and lying down on a tree branch, Konde had his chin resting on his front paws as he observed yet another lesson of Mwehu trying to teach Kopa his own fighting style. _I got the feeling that we have been here before!_

"Why do I get the feeling that you are not going to go along this time as well?" The scarred lion said suddenly and forced the young male to keep his head and stare over at his friend.

Kopa glanced upwards to the leopard before tilting his head to the side in a mocking way. "I told you before Mwehu, I have no desire into getting into fights all the time. I don't know about you, but I tend to avoid confrontations when possible." The thought to be dead prince answered with the older male raising one eyebrow in astonishment.

Up ahead, Konde chuckled to himself. "Come on Mwehu, give it up. How many times have you tried to give the kid some lessons? Besides some skills he developed for hunting, he never had a real fight in his life ever since he came here." The male leopard called out knowing to better deescalate the situation while it was still possible.

Yet again, he didn't get that far as he could see the blood inside his longtime friend boiling as his eyes got red. "You know as well as I do that you can't get away from any confrontation. In order to survive, you have to be ahead of your enemies, why can't you get that into your head?" There wasn't real anger in his voice but more upset that he was indeed going through this kind of discussion again.

"Why don't I get that into my head? Are you seriously accusing for being pacifistic? Not everybody is a crazed lunatic fighting machine with anger issues around here you know."

Mwheu directed his head to the leopard above as the feline was laughing out loud putting his front paw to his muzzle suppress it. Konde stared down and found the scarred lion glancing up at him with an angry glare and immediately stopped at once shrugging his shoulders. "You have to admit, he got your personality right down to the bottom."

But then again, the two male lions got closer to each other with the pale cream one shooting daggers into the Kopa's heart. "If there wouldn't have been a small spot of sympathy for you… and the fact you are right, I would have mangled you on the spot. Where would your little peace-seeking attitude bring you?"

Kopa waited for a short moment as he kept holding the stare his friend was throwing at him. "Is that your answer to everything?" His voice was calm but mad as he was determined to not back down even a little bit from the older male. "Seriously, all you think of is how to survive in the most challenging and hardest way." He turned back around and gave Mwehu a little growl.

"I on the other paw was born in a world where people believed that everyone could live in harmony and piece and I always believed it. And now I'm living alongside you and get the feeling that everybody in the world is trying to kill you." With every word, the young prince's voice got louder and louder as he started padding around and shooting angry gazes to his friend.

For a short moment, Konde got right to his paws and got ready to jump down onto the ground and getting right in between if this situation got out of hand. Yet there was no need for that yet. Mwehu and Kopa got into each other's faces with the pale cream one raising both eyebrows and turning his head slightly to the side. "Kid! If you had seen what I've been through, you would see things a lot more my way." He gestured recalling his own past inside his mind. "How do you think I got this hideously looking?"

But even if Mwehu could have made a legit point with what he was saying, the young prince stood his ground and even made a comeback. "If you would have been through what I have been through, you would see that you gain nothing by solving everything with violence. And don't think that you are the only one that is marked for his lifetime." He brought his cheek for and showed the marking that Zira had given on that evening. "I consider this lesson to be over." He turned his back on the male and started walking away from the scene.

Just at once, the pale cream one's mouth dropped open and Mwehu began trotting after the young one and started staring over to the young lion. "Don't you dare turn your back on me." He called but received no answer from Kopa. "Hey, HEY… I'M TALKING TO YOU!" Still no answer. "Now LISTEN HERE YOUNG MAN… AS LONG AS YOU PUT YOUR FEET UNDER MY TABLE, YOU…" He stopped mid-sentence realizing what he was about to say and swung his head around to face the male leopard smirking down on him.

The two met their gazes and the scarred lion started talking. "Promise to never let me get into this territory again!" He called upwards and received an approving nod.

"I promise!" Konde answered as Mwehu turned around himself. But he was stopped as the leopard opened his muzzle once again. "But you know… he's got a point." He added and forced him to turn around and stare blandly towards. "Did you listen to what he was saying? He said he grew up in a world where animals believed that they could live in a world of peace and harmony."

He got down from his tree and stopped right in front of his friend. Seeing as how once again his two lion friends went at each other with anger, Konde thought it would be the best time to stop their bickering for good. "And now you find him floating in the river and decide to get him out of there to save him. And only that to give him away to a pride that does nothing for weeks than beating him up and trying to make him a fighter." The black spotted feline stared after the young prince with concern. "I don't think I would have much desire in getting into a fight again soon."

Even though he would never show it on the inside, Mwehu did feel a certain sorrow for giving Kopa this treatment. He as well stared after him as he vanished in the thick brush. Konde at his side continued to speak. "You know that he is even more troubled then he is going to let us know." He said and could already see the confused looks of his friend. "You have no idea what I'm talking about do you?" Mwehu didn't even have to answer to have the leopard see that he was right.

"You seriously don't realize the kid turning and twisting in his sleep while also mumbling stuff to himself?" He asked with one raised eyebrow.

"I have a deep sleep!"

Konde face palmed a little before continuing. "He has nightmare about the things that had happened in his cubhood. It may have gotten better with how older he had gotten. But he had to go through for a lot more than he would ever tell us. And that's probably the reason why he and that girl got together weeks ago." The two exchanged another glances with Mwehu giving the leopard a look he had never seen before. _Pity!_

Now that he thought about it, Mwehu had to admit that his leopard friend was right. Maybe pushing the kid to get just like him was not the right thing to do. Strangely enough, it was in this moment that he remembered one line that someone said way back when he was a cub. _"But one day, you will need someone. And when that day comes, you have no one to turn to. I don't know about you, but that would give me the chills." She said in a low voice as she and Simba padded back to pride rock and left Mwehu all there by himself._

All his life, he had stayed alone as much as he could. But now, he had someone he had to look after, someone that wasn't going away anytime soon. Whatever happened to the kid back then, he was determined to not have an effect on their friendship.

* * *

"Simba! Come on, at least give me _one_ smile!" Nala called as she watched the golden furred king biting down on a killed wildebeest in the middle of the pride lands. The male never stopped choking and biting and only lifted his head to watch their surroundings for any enemies coming nearby. His mate for her part observed the king very careful as she tried to comprehend the mood of Simba and how he was coping with his meeting at Rafiki's tree. But the king didn't listen and kept on chewing.

But the golden furred lion wasn't in the mood to smile or laugh. "What is there to laugh? The only good thing I found this morning was you waking up beside me." He said and indeed brought the edges of his muzzle upwards. But only a short moment later, he continued on without facing the queen for a long time. "You know, when I first realized that something was wrong, I didn't tell you because I thought it wasn't such a big deal. And after that, I didn't talk because I didn't want to bother you. But once I got away from Rafiki this morning, I was afraid to tell you about what had come out of it."

The queen raised her head again and gave her husband a warm smile. She put on a gentle expression before getting onto her paws. "Well now you did, and just the fact thqat Rafiki doesn't know what you have, doesn't mean that he can't do anything about it." She padded around the kill and brought her head together with the one of the king. "Come on Sim. We had been put through so much, do you honestly believe that such a little illness could bring us down?" She said and made Simba give her a smile which was the first one in a long time that he gave her with honesty.

Simba yawned after they separated before getting to his paws and stretching himself. He always felt a lot better after such little chats with his mate. The king moved onto his paws with his back turned to Nala until he was standing tall. The cream female observed the nice features that she loved on her mate as her eyes locked on the dark spot at his side. She had taken note of that one for a long time now, but what she didn't have taken note on was another one on the top of his back. She even was determined that she had seen various silhouettes of his bones forming on the inside of his fur.

"Do I really look that bad?" Simba said out of the sudden as he realized his wife staring at him.

Yet what followed was a sly glare by Nala and a small chuckle. "You never looked bad in your whole life." While the king started walking away from the wildebeest and down through his kingdom, the cream female followed him at his side and glancing over from side to side. The green landscape around them shined as bright as it only had a few times in the past. Side by side, they marched forward through their home until they found an all too familiar sight just ahead of them.

It was a place Simba and Nala had not visited that often over the last years. But then again, it was a part that was connected to the pride lands almost like pride rock itself. Something inside the queen's stomach wrenched as she saw what lied ahead of them. _Zuberi River! _She thought moving a few inches closer to Simba to make their furs brush each other. "Coming here still gives me tears." She said after a while as the two stopped just a few steps short of the cliff. She faced the ground before turning her head to the tree at their right.

"I know! I get that feeling too!" The king answered while rubbing his chin over her back. After that, he pulled away from her and walked to the edge glancing down into the gorge and on the river. "So often, I have come here and thought about what I said to him the last moment I saw him." He spoke out with a heavy voice and tried to avoid the gazes of his mate. "The last months made me think. Think about what is going on with me and... and think about Kiara."

That finally caught the full attention of Nala as she walked up to him with a curious face. "What do you mean by thinking about Kiara?"

Simba faced her before directing his gaze towards the sky, somehow he was hoping to find a sign of his father telling him what to do. Yet again, he didn't really think that there was some sort of aid coming from above and he answered Nala at once. "It won't take long and this will all belong to her. She will be queen and I will be along the great kings. And I don't want to have her still guessing in the dark about the events with Kopa. I think she deserves to know the truth." He replied his voice being calm and slow.

"I've been thinking about that too." Nala answered as she rubbed the top of her head underneath Simba's jaw. "We should get to that as soon as possible." She continued sharing and shifting her head from side to side to look at the stars and back at pride rock in exchange. The queen had questioned it a lot of times before. She wondered if not telling Kiara the real reason why she never got to meet her brother was the right thing to begin with. The fact that they turned it down to being just a tragic accident maybe was a bad choice.

Yet back at the time, their daughter was too young to understand what the conflict with the outsiders was really about. The king and queen decided to let it rest and tell Kiara once she was old enough and enough grass had grown over the conflict with Zira and her pride. The two looked deep into each other's eyes and Nala shortly nodded her head in agreement.

In the back of the duo, another figure walked towards the edge of the gorge glancing down on Zuberi River herself. Vitani did not take notice of the king and queen standing a few meters away from her left. She quickly perked her ears up as she got note of the talk Simba and Nala were having and listened in on them. "I personally think this is a great idea." She said out of the sudden and the two other lions turned around to face her.

With the sight of the younger female standing close by, the face of the royals went straight before greeting Vitani with a glad smile. They didn't know if she was eavesdropping on them on purpose or if she was just there to mourn herself. Nala saw the warm smile appearing on the tan female which caused hers to light up as well. She quickly went forth and embraced Vitani with one of her front legs. "You know that t is not nice to interfere with the king and queen having a private conversation." She almost giggled at the last statement and Kovu's sister hugged her back.

"I know, I know! It's just that... I had to grow up with my mother having secrets or even straight out lying to me that I can't take you having secrets from your daughter and my brother." She didn't know where she got that sudden change care from, but she kinda liked the feeling of being the wise one for a change. And not just the impulsive and boyish lioness of the group.

Simba smiled over at her seeing how the young female definitely had a point in what she had to say. "Now that's something that you don't get to experience every day." He stated and pulled Vitani into a hug as well. His gaze wandered back off to the gorge where his son fell into his demise. "You know, I never would have thought this would come, but when it would have come to a choice who would have been the best for my son as a queen, you would have been on top of the list." He said and Vitani started to smile to the golden furred king.

For a short moment, nobody said a word until they heard movement in the back and saw the golden/cream princess and the dark brown prince walking up to them through the grass. Just like the rest of the group, they had their gazes directed to the gorge with Kiara having the same empty glance on her face that her mother had moments ago.

"Right when we were talking about her." Nala said in a whisper as she brought her muzzle closer to Simba's ear.

The king closed his eyes while chuckling slightly before answering. "She kinda has a talent for that."

Kiara gave her parents a quick smile before she stared around with her ears hanging flat to her head. "Hey daddy, hi mom!" She greeted them after all but everybody could tell that she was with her mind somewhere else. The princess turned to her mate standing right beside her and spoke out to him as well. "Even if I wasn't along back then, it still hurts immensely." With that, she walked straight up to their parents and gave them both a lick on the cheek. "I knew I would find you here!"

Simba and Nala exchanged glances before the king gave his mate a nod and turning over to his daughter again. "You know Kiara, we were actually looking for you as well." He stated and Vitani at once got to her feet and walked over to her brother looking with interest towards the scene of the royals.

"Come on! Move it!" She commanded right away and shoved the dark brown male away by using her head.

Seeing this, Kiara stared after the siblings with confusion while her parents looked at them with amusement. All three could hear the protest of the new prince. "Vitani what are you..."

"Move it bonehead!" The tan female continued to say dragging Kovu along. "This is a family thing, nothing for us to have a part in." With those words, the duo vanished behind a small hill and left the three now on their own.

The princess continued to stare at the two older ones not really getting what the sudden fuzz was about. "Why do I sense that this is going to be a long day?" She asked to her father as she let one ear drop to the side and she raised an eyebrow.

Once again, the king and queen looked at each other before Nala let out a heavy sigh and Simba started. "Kiara, there's... actually something we have to tell you." He started and immediately felt his daughter getting seriously worried. "You have to forgive us to not telling you this sooner. But I guess it is the best time to do it now." Kiara had no idea what her father was hinting at and decided to just sit back and listen what he was going to say.

"Simba." She then heard her mother get in between and putting a paw on his shoulder. "I guess we better discuss this somewhere else don't you think?" The king and queen glanced around if anybody was in nearby listening to him before the trio began walking in the direction of the western hills.

* * *

Not often in his life did Mwehu really have the feeling that he was regretting something in his life. Giving the circumstances of how he grew up, he managed rather well to survive up to this point. All his life, he had been on his own. The pale cream male never had to think about taking care for anything else than himself. Sure, those pridelander cubs he was around for most of his cubhood really did grow on him. But he never thought about actually considering them as their friends.

After he got exiled, or rather left due to fear of being extinguished, he settled down in this jungle to live a life just for himself. He had no idea that he would run into the leopard Konde and couldn't even believe that after all his years of fighting; he was going to have someone around that he could actually stand.

And then there was that day when he wandered through the jungle and found this little lion cub floating in the blue waters of that river that made its way all up into the pride lands. And what do you know, after a while he started to feel attached to the young lions as well. In some way, he did feel as father the kid, even if he had no desire to be one ever again.

Mwehu waited on the top of a cliff where he could survey a huge part of the jungle that lied in front of him. In the distance, the moon could be seen already in the sky even though it was still day time. He knew that the young adult was going to come to this place often and especially when he felt lost and despaired. He shifted his head to the back and soon found the golden furred male to step out behind a tree. It took Kopa a while until he saw the ale cream male sitting in front of him and staring at him to come closer.

The expression of the supposed dead prince went stern at once and he almost wanted to turn around. But that was when he heard the scarred lion call out to him.

"You know Kid, I got to hand it to you. I somehow admire your ways of behaving." It came from him and Kopa was surprised to hear this oddly happy comment coming from Mwehu. "Even after all these years, and all the treatments you had to endure, you don't change your opinion. Most animals I met do once they think they have the upper paw."

Though Kopa should have felt flattered by the surprising sentimental behavior of his savior, he still kept a distance between him and the older one of the lions. Instead he kept sitting in his spot and let Mwehu continue to talk. "It's just that... my whole life, I had to fight in order for me to survive. I barely know a world like you described this morning." His voice was honest and gentle. Two words that were most uncommon with the pale cream lion. "But now that you mention it, I got to ask what kind of place that is where you grew up."

The young adult thought for a moment before he finally got up and walked to the side of Mwehu and gave him a quick smile. "Oh believe me; you wouldn't like it there anyway. It is bright and grassy and all in all way to nice for you." He added causing his older friend to jerk back his head raise an eyebrow. "What about you, you were saying that you grew up all on your own. How come you never enjoyed the company of living in a pride?" He asked being finally confronted with a chance to find out more about the brooding and often foul tempered male.

"I actually had the choice to live in a pride. But back then, I didn't know any better." He faced the younger one and turned his expression into a frown. "When I was an infant cub, my mother left me alone in the middle of a kingdom. Say, have you ever heard of the pride lands?"

He said and nearly forced the young male to have his jaw dropping onto the ground in shock. _Yaki was right after all, the world really was small after all._ "Y-you... you were pridelander." Kopa tried to be as less surprised as possible in order to not raise that many questions by the scarred male lion in front of him.

But Mwehu waived him off and stared to the side. "No, never was, never will be!" He answered lying down on the ground and resting his head on his paws. "I never had the intentions to become a member of that kingdom." He could see that the young one was still having questions and continued to tell his story. "When my mother abandoned me in that veldt, I was found by the king ruling overt that land back then. Mufasa picked me up and allowed me to stay in his kingdom as long as I wanted."

Out of the sudden, he heard laughter coming from the supposed dead prince and turned around growling at him. Kopa at once spoke out through his laughter. "Hahaha. You… knew king Mufasa?!" He continued to laugh before he saw the upset face of Mwehu and turned it down a little.

"I didn't say that I knew him, I said that he allowed me to stay in his kingdom." He snapped and snarled a little. "Anyway, after Mufasa got killed alongside his son, I had to leave the place in order to save my life. After what seemed like an eternity, I ended up in this jungle and found that there was only one thing for me to accomplish... survival."

Kopa couldn't believe that after all these years, the scarred adult was finally showing and telling him all the events of his past and how he got in contact with the place they called home. It was strange to get to know that of all the lions he could have gotten in contact with was a lion that once used to live in his old home. He wandered if he was familiar with his parents... and if he would make him out to be their son.

The scarred male continued to make his point clear with the moon now being completely watchable and filling the night with its white light. "What I was trying to do was that… it is perfectly fine if you try to approach problems with different methods than violence." Mwehu clapped Kopa on the back before he got back onto his paws again. "I guess we better head back home now. And tomorrow, I think I try something else than just fighting." He said with a gentle smile before the two walked back into the bush.

_[later that night]_

The duo of lions arrived back at the tree with the leopard Konde already waiting for them. He was surprised to see his two friends walking alongside without any sign of the confrontation they had the other morning. The black dotted creature even had to rub his eyes at the uncommon sight. "What happened to you two? Where did all the bad blood between you two go?" He asked out loud as he saw Kopa and the other male lion to pass him without reacting to him in any way. The supposed to be dead prince right away yawned and moved to his usual sleeping spot.

Right after the golden furred prince had drifted off into sleep, he got down from the tree and met Mwehu in the middle of the clearing. "I'm impressed, you really managed to deescalate a situation without anyone getting hurt. How did you pull it off?" He asked and could see the pale cream one giving him a sly stare.

"By actually telling him the truth, the truth about how I came to this place. How my mother left me to die, and how I got out of the pride lands."

Just like Kopa, Konde was surprised to hear that the scarred male had giving away his well hidden secrets. "What do you know, and here I thought you just mindless crazy guy. But you seem to be a nice guy after all." He said with a sly grin but stopped when he saw the smirk of his friend.

It was a smirk that was unsettling the leopard through every inch. It was the kind of smile that made him believe that Mwehu was already thinking about directing this talk into a nasty way. "Thank the devil that I didn't tell you the story how I found my mother back after months of searching and straightened things with her." His smirk got even wider and Konde could almost feel Mewhu himself starting to creep him out

"And what did you do?"

"I ripped her throat open and let her bleed to death with me watching her in delight." Mwehu responded dry and licked his muzzle with his tongue. After that, he passed his leopard friend and padded him on the shoulder. "Well! Have a good night and see you in the morning." Quickly and leaving the leopard totally baffled, he disappeared to the inside of the tree.

* * *

Simba and Kiara were now walking through the plains of the kingdom with Nala following short after. Simba was observing his daughter closely and carefully as she had her head hanging low and her ears lying flat to her head. "It never was my intention to be a bad father. I just feared that I would lose you too. Zira had already taken Kopa away from us. And I feared she would do the same to you."

The princess for her part wished she would have gotten to know this a lot earlier. It finally all made sense. She finally got to know why her father was so overprotective of her and why the feud between her family and the outlanders was so viciously. Her father had finally told her the real circumstances about her brother dying before she was even born. "You know how I always hated being lied to." She said being slightly upset. Though she wasn't sure if she really should be.

"You have to understand Kiara, you were too young when you had your first encounter with Zira in order to understand what was going on between us and them." Nala threw in from the back. "And once we thought it was the right time to tell you, you came across Kovu for the second time." The queen said in her gentle voice recalling that day with the bushfire and how Kiara nearly got burned alive. "You were so much in love with him that you wouldn't even believe us if we would have told the truth back then."

Even Nala had to agree that she was somehow making excuses for lying to her daughter, though it was done in good attentions. But the queen knew that the one thing Kiara hated more than people not keeping their promises was being lied to. The cream/golden princess stared back to her mother. "But then again, why didn't you tell me back when we got the prides together?" She asked and even her mother didn't know what to answer to that.

Right in that moment, Simba got in and saved his wife from an awkward situation. "It took long enough for Kivuli to accept Vitani and Kovu the way they were. Would you think it would have made things better if we told them that their future king once was best friends with Zira's daughter and that she killed him? I doubt that that would have made it easier for Vitani at all. They had it difficult enough."

Kiara glanced upwards and thought about that for a while. She wasn't completely satisfied with the way things had developed, but then again. She already could feel a part of her that began to feel glad that this secret was now out of the way. With her father walking up to her and nuzzling Kiara on the head, she smiled a little not feeling a bad thing for her father.

"You feeling alright?" Simba asked her as she rubbed the top of her head against his chin.

"It will take a while. But I guess it's better like this." She got away from him before doing the same to her mother before pointing her head into the direction of pride rock. "I think I go check back on Chaka and Shani. I see you later in the den then." After giving the king and queen a last smile of goodbye, she walked along with Simba glancing after her with a mix of worry and gladness.

The king was about to walk forth when... _Swoop!_ Simba's left front paw gave in underneath him and he stumbled down right on his stomach. He let out a slight gasp as felt his jaw colliding with the ground. "SIMBA!" Nala shouted out right away and slid down before lying at his side. She nudged him with her nose trying to get the king back onto his paws. "Are you alright?"

Yet her mate lifted is paw upwards and moved it back and forth a little before pressing back onto the ground. "I... guess! It... just collapsed underneath me." He laid more pressure on it and was now back on standing tall in front of Nala. "But I'm okay." The two exchanged another pair of worried gazed before the king smiled down at her to wipe away that worried dead face on his mate. "Come on, let's get back home too!" He said leading his queen across the kingdom. On the outside, Simba seemed to be alright and kept smiling towards the queen.

But on the inside, he was more and more disturbed of how less body control he was having day by day.

* * *

**Auther's note: **So that's it for tonight. This chapter marks the final part in the set-up of this story. Beginning with the next chapter, we're going full force with the story.


	8. Revolution

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen!

Once again I thank you for clicking on my story and that you decide to read the next chapter of it. Since I don't have anything to say, I go on with answering the comments I got.

**LionKingFactsGuy2: **Simba's illness is something that I picked up from yet another documentary that ran on NatGeoWILD about lions. (Just search for a moment and you find it right away). I needed a disease that took a long time before it really kicked in and got the better of a creature. Something that allowed the being to live for weeks or even months and was still able to walk around and not just lie down half dead. And that's when I saw this doku and saw a lioness falling to this illness and said to myself "Perfect!"

There are a lot of things that one can say about Mwehu (most of them not being nice) but there's one thing that he's not… a liar and a faker.

**Reldor: **Just because Rafiki doesn't know what it is, it doesn't mean that Simba is in trouble. But now that you mention it… yes he is! :D

**Starzinmyeyez: **We might actually get to that. But first we have to address some other things.

So…

Like I said last week… this is the part where s*** get's real.

* * *

Chapter 8: revolution

Another couple of weeks passed and the condition of king Simba got worse with every day. It was a very disturbing thing to witness by any member of the royal family. Simba was the king that had overcome an even bigger and harder obstacle than every other king in the past had to get through. But he managed to pull through and bring the pride lands to a new height. The pride lands were a kingdom which every lion and animal hoped they could make a living in. Even the other kingdoms that were big and rich didn't have the same peaceful and harmonic atmosphere that Simba and his family had.

The north lands were no exception in this. Ever since king Isitha had first visited king Ahadi and his pride in that landscape. He had ever dreamed of once walking through the kingdom as its ruler. But that was a wish that never going to be fulfilled. Mostly the matter of fact the brown furred king was dying and barely had a month left of living.

Since he himself couldn't take the throne of the pride and the north lands, he dreamed of his sons to do it. Both Ingozi and Ingelozi had become proud and important members of the kingdom. He was proud to have such strong sons to carry on his legacy. Isitha just wished that the two would get along better and pull on the same string to achieve the goals he desired the most together.

While the dying king lied inside his den and waited for the end to come, his first born son Ingozi waited outside along with his two consultants Izulu and Kwelanga. The brown furred prince padded impatiently with Kwelanga and Izulu exchanging glances and rolling their eyes. Ingelozi couldn't count the numerous times he had to go through this before. Once his brother was getting there, they would enter the cave and start their countless arguments all over again.

And just like on cue, the little brother of the prince came into view followed also by his two consultants as well as Itshe standing way in the back. The two brothers greeted each other with a warm smile but a cold and short "Hello!" before entering the cave without wasting any time. One by one, they entered the cave and right away got into view of their father lying in his corner and having his head resting on the ground.

"There you are!" Isitha greeted them in his weak, slow and silent voice forcing Ingelozi and Ingozi to bring their heads closer to their father's ear. "What do you have to report? What do you have to tell me from the outside?" he asked in all honesty since he himself was no longer in shape of finding out himself.

The two switched gazes back and forth between each other before Ingozi started ti answer. "There is nothing to report father, everything is quiet and in order out there." He answered and his brother nodded his head in agreement. "Your kingdom has grown healthy and never had been greater and more glorious than in this time." He continued with a bow the sick king with him returning the gesture.

Isitha switched from of his son to the other and cleared his throat again. "You have really been great sons to me. When I soon leave my kingdom in your paws Ingozi, I can say that it is in strong and determined paws." The brown furred king remarked and placed a paw on his son's shoulder. He then turned to his other son and signed to come close to him as well. "Ingelozi, I expect you to be a guide and consultant to your brother that a king needs." He almost ordered his younger son.

"Is there anything that we can do to you father?" Ingelozi asked with care as he sat down beside his brother and his head bowed down. The second born prince wasn't the most eager one when it came to hospitalizing his father. But since he could tell that Isitha's time was short, he started to feel a bit more attached to him. And he had to admit that it was a great opportunity to find out a lot more about the intern relations that his father had built and not even told Ingozi about.

He observed his father who started to cough again before gazing back at the two males in front of them. "Nothing that I would have the pleasure of enjoying my sons." He coughed again and turned his head away from Ingozi and his brother. "If Scar wouldn't have died back then, I could have taken his place and turn the north and the pride lands into one giant kingdom where I was supposed to be the ruler. But that opportunity is gone now."

It was just the idea he was hoping for. "I will see that me and Ingozi will try to make your wish come true, even if you are with the great Ingonyama by then." He said and forced his brother to turn towards him immediately.

"I don't think that this is the right course we should attempt to follow. We have accomplished so much to this point that we don't need to conquer the pride lands."

Right away, Ingelozi got right to his paws and tried to stare the brown male down. "Do I hear the desire to deny one of the last wishes of our father, the king that brought us out of the pride wars and give the north lands a new era of glory!?" He said hoping for his father to give him some backup on his point.

But Ingozi didn't wait for anybody to respond and got right into the argument. "I'm not saying that I don't want to deny our father's wishes. But starting yet another war; that is definitely not what our kingdom needs right now." He replied and the two started to growl at each other with angry glares.

"STOP IT! BOTH OF YOU!" Isitha threw in and silenced both his sons once more glaring back at the king. "Look at yourselves. You are my sons. You are the pride of our kingdom, the two that are supposed to carry on my legacy." He turned his head and stared straight in the eyes of his younger son. "As much as I would love to bring the pride lands and its king to his knees, my choice for Ingozi as future king's well as his judgment of leading this kingdom with wise stands. I expect you to follow him with his task."

Ingelozi nodded as he was surprised how strong and mighty his father could sound even after all these years. Neither one of them dared to say any word until the king was allowing them to. "I told you two before, never let something else get in the way of your unity. We cannot afford that to happen." He finished and both his sons gave him yet another bow telling him that they agreed. "Now leave me alone, I have enough of your constant bickering."

With a wave of his paw, he ordered both males to move outside of the cave and leave him behind. Once they got out of the den, Ingozi walked alongside Kwelanga and Izulu as they separated from the other group with feeling still angry about his brother and his plans. The two made quick eye contact before Ingelozi turned around to have a word with Itshe.

_Those two start to spend a lot of time over the last weeks! _He wondered narrowing down his eyes.

A few feet away, the younger prince and the beige ex-pridelander began trotting down the kingdom until they reached a small brushwood win the middle of a grassy field. "I suppose your chat with the king didn't go as well as planned." The lion formally known as Jiwe said almost mocking towards his partner in crime.

After snarling for a short moment, the brown male waited till they stopped and found themselves close to a thick brush. "Not really, but at least I know on which page my brother is on." He said frustrated and continued. "I am done with waiting, we start tonight!" He said with a smile before they could hear another figure walking out of the bus at their side. The two immediately made it out o be a lioness, a lioness they were way familiar with.

"We better do, my mate s getting more and more suspicious." The light brown female known as Ikhaya called out and walked right beside Ingelozi before she connected her head with the one of the king's son.

* * *

The night came over the north lands and the kingdom slowly came to peace. Only once in a while, one could hear the distant screams of a bird calling out through the night. All figures at king's hill were fast asleep including the two princes and the king himself. Though lions could see in the dark, it was a dark night with the moonlight being completely blocked by a thick layer of clouds.

If one could see king's hill at this night, it really seemed like a calm and peaceful place where someone would love to settle down in. The only thing moving around the home fo the king was a small black figure jumping through the crowns of the trees. It wasn't a lion that was for sure. Normally, any creature that was not a lion would have never got past the patrols that ran through the place. But somehow, all the patrolling lions had gone to sleep for the night as well. The figure had no problems in passing by the place and come closer to the various dens of the king.

The king's den was not far and the figure made another gaze right and left to see if he had been spotted by now. But when he neither heard or saw a sound or movement around him, it quickly switched around the corner and vanished into the cave. His vision caught immediately sight of the figure that lay in the far corner of the den and had his head directed to the far wall of it. The figure observed with interest before he took another bunch of steps forward now only being a few yards away from the lion lying in front of it.

Step by step, the figure got closer until… "Who's there?" The lion suddenly called out without facing the figure but fully aware that he was not alone anymore.

The figure jerked its head back surprised by the fact that the lion did caught him sneaking up with ease. It pondered for a moment as if thinking about falling back, but that was something he was not going to do. "Relax old friend it is me!" The figure said with an old and masculine voice having a strange comfort in it.

"One-eye! W-what are you doing here?" Isitha answered surprised but calm seeing the black furred leopard standing right in front of him.

The male feline went another few steps closer grinning over at the old king. But that grin did not last long with One-eye putting on a gentle and trusting expression. "I think you should have guessed by now." He spoke out with Isitha keeping a neutral gaze at his long time friend.

It didn't take long and the brown furred male had figured out everything that was going on around his kingdom. And strangely, he wasn't even mad about the fact that this was going to be his last moments underneath the living. If nothing helped than the fact that it was his best friend that was finishing him. He smiled up shortly and asked this one question he had on his mind. "Which one?"

His question was simple and direct which One-eye always liked about his friend and how he and the king got along so well. He simply put a paw to the level of his head and answered. "The younger one!"

_I should have known! _Isitha thought and a strangely proud smile appeared on his face. "I trained them well. Maybe a little too well!" He had to chuckle a little before he stared up and found the black colored leopard standing over him.

"Sorry old friend! But as you should know, it's nothing personal!" With that, he went down and enclosed his muzzle on the king's nose. Even though Isitha had no desire in fighting inevitable, he struggled for a short time before his legs and his head went limb. Slowly, One-eye raised up to his feet and he began to stare down on the dead lion at his paws. The king of the north kinds called Isitha was no more.

Without anyone taking notice, the black furred male leopard made his way out of the cave and vanished into the tree crowns without any lion at king's hill taking notice of it.

* * *

Ingozi had a really good sleep during that night. He was really in peace with himself and without the stress of the day before. Just like anybody else of the pride he lived in, he had no idea about the black furred leopard that had sneaked through the caves of sleeping lions. Before he dosed off into the world of dreams, the first brown prince thought about how he was going to make it up with his brother. After all, they were family and had to stick together.

The brown male lied on his back with his head resting on the cold ground in the cave. Snuggled up to his side lied Ikhaya with her back brushed against his hip. She herself had put a smile on her face that was just as satisfied as the one of the king himself. He was so happy with his life that he, just like his father had, didn't realize the figure walking up to him and shaking his shoulder with its paw.

At once, Ingozi rushed his head up with a growl and sunk his claws into the creatures shoulder. He didn't realize who it was until he had his vision cleared and saw who woke him up this rudely. Up in front of him stood his consultant Kwelanga. "Ingozi, get up! We have a situation!" He said and found the prince getting to his paws immediately.

Right beside him, Ikhaya stumbled out of her sleep as well as she glared at the two males with still sleepy eyes. "What is going on?" She asked as she saw her mate following Kwelanga out of the shelter.

"Continue sleeping dear, I'll be right back!" He answered and the two vanished quickly and hectically.

Ikhaya thought for a moment before she turned her muzzle into a broad smile.

The prince and his consultant moved as fast as they could without making a scene on the fields around king's hill. The first streaks of sunlight were already able to be seen and the first lions were already moving around the place. Nobody of them realized what was going on with the royal family and Ingozi was glad that they didn't. Kwelanga was leading straight to the cave of his father and there was a certain feeling inside the prince's stomach which was unsettling him.

He was about to enter the den when he felt himself confronted with the sad face of his brother. "Ingelozi, I-I have terrible news." He started in a melodramatic way. "Our… our father… he…" The brown green eyed lion didn't have to continue to make the older prince move past him and stare down on the corpse of his father.

Ingozi stopped dead in his tracks as he saw Isitha lying there. With slow steps and a heavy heart, he sat down in front of him and put a paw on his father's head. It was difficult for him to hold back tears even though they knew for years that it was just a matter of time. For a short moment, he let his head rest on his father's face before he shook his head up and got to his feet immediately. "What happened?" He asked sharp and stern at the direction of his brother.

"He died peacefully in his sleep." Ingelozi replied as he saw his brother getting back on his paws. "A real tragedy!"

But the older one of Isitha's sons went forth and got right into his brother's face. "Is that so? We'll see about that!" With that, he walked past Ingelozi and stormed out of the cave. The younger prince made a short eye contact with Itshe and gave him a nod to follow Ingozi.

Right away, Ingozi stormed into his home den with Kwelanga and Izulu as well as his third consultant Inhloli. He was padding back and forth with fury but tried as hard as he could to keep a cool head. Kwelanga and Izulu sat back and just watched their prince being this furious while Inhloli stared out of the cave and could see Itshe coming towards him.

"This is serious! We have to be careful with this, we are all in danger." The brown furred male said and Izulu right away walked over to him.

"Should I go get the princess and the queen?" he said at once already adjusting to the fact that Ingozi was now king of the north lands.

But the royal stopped him and raised a paw signing towards Kwelanga. "No Izulu, I need you here at my side. Kwelanga, go and find my daughter as well as my wife. I don't want them to be out there alone this morning.

It was in that moment that Itshe came entering the cave and stared over at the prince who didn't realize react to the former pridelander now being in the middle of the shelter. "I know that you are enraged Ingozi, but you have to be careful. That wasn't really the smartest thing you could have done." His voice was urging and almost pleading as he tried to get to the prince.

"Smart, I don't know what you think but… my father was _murdered!_" He turned his head to the side and found Kwelanga still standing in the entrance. "Are you still here? Go and get my daughter, hurry!" The new king's voice was restless and hectically as he tried to stay ahead of the situation. He even gave the former pridelander Itshe a wink to sign him to get out as well.

Together, Itshe and Kwelanga stepped outside and the consultant of Ingozi stopped right beside the beige on without facing him at any point. "Do you wish me to kill the princess?" Kwelanga asked with a sly smirk on his face as Itshe stared into the distance.

"She is of more value to us if she's alive. Bring her to us unharmed."

"What if the pridelander is with her?"

"Kill him… kill them all!"

* * *

Far away from king's hill, Ubuvila and Kichwa had no idea of what was going on at the home of her father. The young adult female had her head resting on a pillow made out of fallen trees while she with her smile being satisfied and completely happy. Having his arms wrapped around the princess lied the dark brown male called Kichwa, the son of Chumvi and Kula. He himself had a glad and happy grin on his face as the two slowly drifted out of their sleep and back into this world.

Ubuvila yawned shortly and turned around until she lied on her back and had a clear view on the male lying right beside was the first night in many years that she spent outside of king's hill, an idea that she got from the dark brown pridelander son as well. Normally, somebody of her family would have gone to protest about this but… gladly her father had a soft spot for Kichwa and allowed after all. "Hey sleepy, are you alright?" She asked playfully seeing as how Kichwa was awake, but didn't move at all.

"I'm perfectly fine!" The dark brown lion answered with a smile and got back into sitting position. "For now at least!" He added with a hint to his mate. "We should have done this a while ago." Knowing that it wouldn't take long before one of the lions of her father's pride were going to pick them up, he signed the female to get up and head back towards king's hill.

Together and side by side, the duo marched through the north lands with still no clue what had happened to the king the other night. With the sun now showing its full size upon the horizon, he could see the impressive sight of king's hill far away in the distance. But that was when he could see a familiar figure coming closer to him and the princess. "Hey Vila look! Just like you said, it wouldn't take long." The male spoke out by the sight of Kwelanga coming up to them with fast paced and harsh steps.

The princess brought up a smile and took a few steps forward knowing that this was going to be just like so many times where she had to explain to her mother of her beings. "Kwelanga, up so early?" She said in a, at least for her, rather playful and sarcastic mood. However that changed once she saw the stern and disturbed expression on the male's face.

"Princess! You need to come with, your father wants both you and your mother back at king's hill at once. We have a huge problem at hand." He urged her and already positioned himself between Ubuvila and Kichwa. He quickly began shoving her forward as the dark brown male walked up to them. Kichwa wanted to join them before the older male gave him a shove with a paw. "This is business of northlanders!" He said angry by shoving him away.

Kichw tumbled backwards and quickly made eye contact with his mate. "But I can help!"

"Beat it _pridelander!" _With that, he shoved the female forward while she gave Kichwa apologizing looks and even gave him a sorry sounding goodbye.

While he was forced to watch his mate being dragged back to pride rock, he wandered if he should follow them anyway. Yet there was still some hostility towards the young adult with pridelander roots. Maybe it was the best to just stay out of this and head back towards his own home and back to his parents.

* * *

The moment, Ithunzi got up from his sleeping spot, he knew that there was something not right. Itshe's son always had a feeling and a nose for strange situations. A quick glance outside the cave and his senses were as sharp as they could get. Glancing around the place and finding one of the figures he wanted to see about, the beige male stepped up and greeted the older male with a warm welcome. "Hey Umnikozi! Have you seen my father around here?" He called out to the brown male with a curious face.

Umnikozi stopped for a short moment and stared over at the son of his superior. "Why yes Ithunzi, but I doubt that you should be with him right now. There has been an accident with the king. It is better for those not involved to stay out." He answered with a polite voice yet somehow ticked off the spider-senses of the younger beige lion.

Seeing how the consultant of Itshe was acting rather strange, Ithunzi narrowed his eyes before taking a few sly smirk left and right before following him. From the distance, he could watch the male entering the king's den while taking a glance to the right and the left as well as he entered. Quickly, the ex-pridelanders son sneaked forth and stopped just outside the entrance beginning to eavesdrop on the voices inside. He could hear his father as well as a few others mumbling, one of them was the voice of Ingozi's mate Ikhaya.

"With the king gone, we have to make sure that the line of leadership is not disrupted. However, that is up to Ingelozi and his lions. I on the other paw have a different agenda that you have to follow." The voice of his father really unsettled him and Ithunzi had to be careful to not gasp out loud and spill everything.

Inside the cave, Itshe continued with his speech to the lions inside. "As you all know, there are about five pridelander living among us. Two males and three females to be exact" He continued and his son on the outside perked his ears up even more. "I want you to do me a huge favor... end their lives for me." Ithunzi had to fight even harder to not yell out in shock. "I want them all dead, with one exception. If you find the older female and can manage it, bring her to me."

_Kula, Chumvi… Akili! _Ithunzi jumped back and quickly moved into the other direction to get away from there and reach Akili and the others as quickly as possible.

But that was when he heard movement in the back and found a pair of two female and fully grown females staring at them with bloodthirsty eyes. "You should have know when it might be better for you to stay at home." One of them said and the two marched forward closing in on the now backward walking male.

With a quick, one of the lioness leaped forth with Ithunzi ducking down underneath the attack. Yet the female was agile enough to hold on with her claws making the beige one crunch out in pain. The other one brought her body underneath Ithunzi and shoved the beige lion oh his feet. Before the male could react, he was could hear the mumbling of an all too familiar voice. "You should have better known to not sneak up on me."

The young adult glanced up and stared directly into the eyes of his father. He at once noticed the complete change in his personality. Where as he knew his father as being very kind and supporting, the lion now standing in front of him was cold and filled with hate and fear. "Slowly, he got his head up and began working on a comeback. "H-Have you suddenly lost your mind, or have you always been this cruel and hateful?" He asked through shock and disbelieve as he tried to get back onto his paws.

"You're not completely right my son if you assume that I have always been this way. At one point, I was a nice and caring cub. That was until those two pridelanders messed up my life and forced me to live a life in exile. But the fact that our prince Ingelozi decided to take over the throne himself, I thought it might be the best to settle an old score." He soon went forward and raised his paw against his own son.

Even to his own surprise, Ithunzi was really fast on his feet as he avoided the attack of his father and even managed to squeeze out of the grasps of the lionesses. Itshe was just as surprised as he saw the speed in which Ithunzi started to run away from the scene. With every yard, he gained ground on his followers and soon was out of their reach.

Itshe stared after his son and his chasers before he turned back around to Umnikozi and the other lions with him. "I know he is my son but… I hate lions that don't follow my example." With that said he looked at Umnikozi and pointed his head to the direction of the king's cave. "We better get up there, I don't want to miss the show." He said with a nasty smirk and ordered his followers left to get back to the den.

_I got to find Akili and her brother! _It hammered through Ithunzi's mind as he feared what was going to happen if Chumvi and the others got caught by his father and his followers. He was miles away from king's hill when he caught sight of yet another disturbing scene.

* * *

Being unsettled and even mad, Ingozi walked right up to his father's resting place with Inhloli and Izulu in his back. He couldn't wait to confront Ingelozi with the accusation he still had to him. Once they were inside, he didn't waste any time before calling to his brother at once. "INGELOZI!" His voice boomed through the shelter and all lions inside shook their heads up and stared at their rightful king. "We need to talk!" He and his two consultants stopped dead in their tracks as they glanced over to the group of lions that were still sitting in his father's de.

"Ingozi, have you cooled down again?" The younger prince said with a smirk that ticked the older one off even more.

He growled at the group in front of him as his head was nearly exploding from all the emotions he was feeling right now. "No! Not really!" He wandered back and forth in front of Ineglozi before he stopped tried to stare him down. "Don't you find it a bit convenient that just the night after we had our argument that ended with father putting _you _in your place, you find our father dead in his… _sleep?!"_ Right away, the tension between the two brothers infected the whole cave and Inhloli as well as Izulu tensed up immediately.

Ingelozi for his part shook back his head and faked of being surprised and shocked. "You seem really troubled; father's death must have… wait a moment." He shifted his voice into a false offended tone and continued to speak out. "Are you accusing me of having a paw in our father's death?" He asked and tried to bring the pressure back on his older brother.

For a short moment, there was a doubt in Ingozi's if his brother would really go that far and kill Isitha. But he knew that his father was murdered, and who else could have done it than him. "Relax Ingozi, you have to breathe if you don't want to make yourself delusional." His self confident smirk was getting really on Ingozi's nerves as he went another step forward and growled even more hostile.

"MY mind has never been so focused before." He snarled back and was ready for anything. "I am certain that you just couldn't take it anymore and ended father's life just for the sake of your own."

Again, the younger prince really caught him by the source of his anger as he kept smirking and even formed a nasty laugh with his muzzle. "And what if I have?" He out of the sudden admitted and caused the older one and the two in his back to shake back a little. "It's not like that there's no one that wouldn't follow if I would set my course of how this kingdom was supposed to be ruled."

Ingozi widened his eyes with as he switched his eyes from left to right and found the lions in the back of his brother getting ready to attack him. Looking back at Izulu and Inhloli, he found them to outnumber them six to three. Movement in the back made them turn around and find Itshe along two of his own lions standing in the mouth of the cave as well.

"Is sense there's a little unsettlement going around here." The beige male at once and gave Ingelozi a despising glare.

For a short moment, the supposed to be king lighted up his face as he felt a new ally entering the scene. "So… this is all a huge plan of you taking over the throne yourself!?" He half asked and half made clear with his fury growing immensely. "You seem to forget that with father dead, I am the king, and all of your friends are my subjects." He added but found Ingelozi and his consultants only laughing out.

The younger brown male stomped forth and smirked down on his brother. "You see, that's where the second part of my plan comes in. With you out of the way, I will be the king. And considering your subject, you should check if they are really that loyal to you anyway."

Before Ingozi could react, Inhloli had Izulu pinned to the ground as he had his claws directed to his neck. The king turned around with shock before he felt another lion attacking him and smacking him across the head. Ingozi could hear the word traitor coming from Izulu as he himself was busy avoiding his throat ripped open by a furious attacking Ingelozi. The two princes swung their claws at each other while missing most of their blows. Finally, Ingozi was able to switch his brother around and land on top of the younger male lion.

He was about to give him a kick to the head with his right hind leg when he felt someone leaping from behind and pulling him away from Ingelozi. The supposed king turned around and faced another lion. He brought his fangs down on the king and bit down into his shoulder. With Ingozi yelling out in pain, Ingelozi kept laughing out I the back before closing in him as well.

"You see, there is no one coming to help you. The rest of our kingdom does hate the pridelanders just like father did. Whose course do you think, they are more willingly to follow? Mine or yours?"

Hearing his brother talk, the new king managed to move his attacker away from him and tried right away to jump at Ingelozi's throat. But he didn't get far as he was held back by the other lions lying around before his brother gave him a kick with his back legs onto the jaw. Ingozi flew backwards and landed hard on the ground.

Meanwhile, Izulu and Inhloli were right at each other's throats with Izulu slowly gaining the upper hand. "How dare you betray your king and bind together with this… king murderer!?" He called out right away swinging Inhloli around and smacking him right into the side of his hip. The brown furred black maned Izulu stood over the other with triumph before he was getting pinned to the ground by the followers of Itshe. He struggled as hard as he could but the sheer masses of enemies was too much for him. And then… he saw Inhloli bringing his teeth down on his throat and holding on until he was unable to move in any possible way.

Ingozi saw what had happened to his closest friend and he clenched his teeth right away. At once, the king got to his paws while striking and kicking at everything that was coming for his tale. But Isitha's older son found himself soon to be overpowered by the numerous enemies he was going up against. For every hit he did, he felt another connecting with his spine or his head. For every kick he sent away, he got bitten more and more in the back.

Slowly and steady, Ingozi got forced backwards until he stood at the mouth of the den. The king was breathing heavy and he could see the numerous markings and wounds all across his fur. The moment, he looked up he saw Inholi rushing forth and ramming him straight with his head into the side. The king rolled over the floor before quickly rushing to his paws and catching his former consultant by surprise. He quickly bit down on his throat from underneath before swinging and breaking his neck.

Staring over at the corpse at his side, he slowly got up only to see that the others were still standing in front of him. Inside his mind, Ingozi was close to giving up. But he could barely stand on his paws as he slowly managed to get back on them. But that was about to change when he saw a light brown flesh of light getting pass him and stopping on front of Ingozi in a protective way. "Ikhaya!" He called out weak by the sight of his mate.

The new queen growled viciously into the direction of Ingelozi who just stared back at her. "If you know what's good for you, you decide quickly if you want to follow this fool or me." His voice was threatening and he continued to snarl even more.

"Oh trust me, Ihave already chosen!" She said with a grin. And not even a second alter, she turned around and sank her teeth into the throat of her mate which caught him completely by surprise. She ripped out a chunk of flesh from his throat which forced a huge amount of blood tripping out of it.

Ingozi stared up to her in pure shock and disbelief. Not only was he betrayed by two of his three consultants, but also the lioness he loved and trusted with his life. Slowly, he crawled closer to her as he missed to see any of the love she had once showed him every glare. "W… w-why?" Was all he could ask for as he could feel the live vanishing from his body. But Ikhaya didn't say anything and just continued to stare with cold and emotionless eyes.

The dying king turned his head around searching for yet another sight he was missing. "Ubu-vila!" He stumbled yet again but could feel the cold and hostile of Ingelozi's paws coming down on his throat.

The green eyed male stared at his brother before he formed another smile with his muzzle and opened it to speak. "She will be in good paws… my paws!" He remarked and Ingozi could feel all his hopes being gone. He would have cried if he had the strength, instead he just lied down motionless and let it happen.

Once Ingozi had closed his eyes and passed away, Ingelozi at once walked over his brother's body and spit down on it. After that he addressed the lions watching from the distance with curiosity and disbelieve as they had witnessed the death of their prince Ingozi. The green eyed brown male cleared his throat and started speaking to his new subjects.

"The king and his first born son have passed. By the laws passed by the great Ingonyama… I am the new king of the north lands." His voice changed into a booming type and he waited for the lions around him to bow to him. And when they finally did it, Ingelozi closed his eyes and enjoyed his first moments as the king.

* * *

It wasn't the first time that Kichwa had to fall victim of his sisters and his parents mocking and jokes since he had become a couple with the brown furred princess of the north lands. And so, the dark brown young male did no longer shift his head away in embarrassment as Akili and Moyo got on the roll once again.

"Who would have thought that our Kichy here would turn out to be such a romantic softy?!" The caramel one with the red eyes said out loud as she rubbed her paw through her brother's brown mane." On the other side was Moyo still thinking about what to say to top her sister.

Just a few feet away from the trio sat their parents Chumvi and Kula snuggled up to each other and enjoying every minute of their children talking to each other and having a good time. It was one of those days which the quintet really enjoyed being around each other. The sun stood high and the for once, the climate was just as cool as it was back in the pride lands. There was literally nothing that could have ruined this day for the family of former pridelanders.

"Come on Akili! Do I go around and mess with you about you and your relationship with Ithunzi." He countered and shoved her front leg away from him. After that, he went into a pouncing stance and started to jump straight at his sister. "Speaking of messing around, I guess I owe you this one." With that, he pressed the smaller female to the ground and laughed out loud.

Yet his time with the upper hand over his sister was short lived as Moyo decided to join in and tackled her brother so that he got knocked over by the other caramel female. The three rumbled together as they rolled over the ground until both Moyo and Akili had the male pressed to the ground and started tickling him. "Haha… stop it… hahaha… y-you… you're killing me:" He tumbled underneath various deep breaths and laughter. Finally, the two released him and Kichwa tried to calm down his breath. "He rubbed his head before he spoke up again. "Boy do I wish I had a brother right now."

In the back, Kula and Chumvi chuckled to each other themselves amused by their children and how carefree they were acting. "It's funny to see that those three close to being fully grown and near adulthood when you watch them play around like this:" The dark brown male remarked and rubbed his head into hers.

"It's definitely hard to believe." Kula joined in on the joke and laughed as she saw Akili and Moyo going for another round with their brother. She was close to going to felling into sleep when she suddenly perked her ears up in alert. There was a sound in the distance that caught full attention of the female. Slowly and carefully, Kula directed her head upwards and listened to the landscape and the sounds it was also making. By narrowing her eyes, she spoke up "Chumvi!"

As if he heard it too, her mate got quickly to his feet and started moving a few steps forward. The motions of the two didn't go unnoticed by their children either. All three of them were at alert at once with Kichwa joining the side of his father and Akili and Moyo getting into a protective stance in front of their mother. "I got a bad feeling about this." Moyo remarked by making her eyes as big as possible to listen in on the stuff going around them.

The sound was getting louder and louder with Akili shortly after realizing what was causing their parents to become this cautious and tensed. It was the sound of hostile lion roars, and they were coming closer. At once, the five pridelanders moved backwards seeking for an exit route towards shelter. But it was too late for that. They could already see a group of about six lionesses and two male lions coming down the field and making not of their presence with angry roars.

Chumvi at once returned the roar and strengthened his muscles by the sight of the attackers. His heart felt with fear as he thought about the family he was being responsible for now. _Oh dear, please not!_

* * *

By the time all the events at king's hill were going on, Ubuvila was wandering alongside Kwelanga through the kingdom herself. She had no idea that the lions she thought was one of the closest friends of her father was really taking her along for a ride towards her doom. But even though, she felt safe and happy with her life, she was a bit unsettled by the fact that she had been called to her home this urgent.

"Would you at least be so kind and tell me what is going on that I have to come to king's hill at once!?" She half requested half demanded. The princess also remembered the way how Kwelanga called Kichwa _… pridelander._ As much as she could remember, Kichwa, Akili and Moyo were born in the north lands, and would make them northlanders by the law. Ubuvila waited for Kwelanga to give her an answer. An answer that never came.

The light brown male made a turn around a small brushwood as he glanced back at the princess and ordered her to come along. "This way your highness." He said without facing her directly.

Ubuvila right away raised one eyebrow and shifted hear head upwards. She knew the place the older lion was leading her. And she knew that this wasn't a direct way to get to king's hill. As a matter of fact, it was a huge detour. But then again, Kwelanga was one of her closest friends under the adults. He had watched her when she was little for lots of times. What was there to worry for her?

However, she still couldn't hold back on the questions rising in her head. Especially with the two now entering a narrow pathway leading through a forest. "Uhm Kwelanga… I doubt that we are getting to king's hill if we follow this path. If I do remember correctly, this one leads only away from our home." She said out loud sure that the older lion was soon answering her.

"Don't worry your highness, we are only meeting up with someone on the way." It finally came out from him. It wasn't much that Ubuvila had to answer to that, but she sure wasn't going to argue with the words of one of her father's friends. The light brown colored lion tilted his head slightly to the side as he eyed the princess with the corner of his eyes. "I sense that you still have some doubt. But I can assure that we are only following the king's orders, just trust me."

Ubuvila didn't think any further and continued to follow Kwelanga through the forest. It took them a while until they reached the other side and found themselves standing at the end of the grassy fields and the various trees being spread all over the place. To the side, they could see the silhouettes of king's hill. Yet the female lion could have sworn that it was even farer away than back when she met Kwelanga.

The two waited for a while until they could see another two figures stepping out of the shadows and revealing itself to be Itshe and Ikhaya. The princess's face lit up the moment she spotted her mother standing in front of her. The young lioness rushed over to her and brought her head underneath her chin. "Mother, what is going on here?" She asked with a slight amount of panic in her voice.

But her mother stayed calm and right away put a paw on her shoulder. She smiled down on Ubuvila and said. "Relax my dear, it's alright. Everything is going to be fine now." With that she pulled the young female into an embrace. After she pulled away, Ingozi's former mate's face went straight and she returned to putting her paw on her shoulder. "My daughter, there's something that I have to tell you. Your grandfather…" She started and Ubuvila had her head drop down at once. "He… he passed away this night." She said with a sad voice pulled her daughter closer to her once more.

Right away, Ubuvila began to sob into her mother's fur. She liked her grandfather, even though a lot of lions named him cruel or even tyrannical. But those were treats that she had never encountered on him. To her, he was just the typical grandfather. She continued to sob and then saw Kwelanga moving up to Ithunzi's father as he gave him a short welcome.

"Everything is going according to plan!" The beige male almost whispered but not silent enough to be overheard by the young female.

_According to plan? What is he talking about? _It wasn't the best part for her to get away from the newfound death her grandfather and being curious about some plan Itshe was getting on to. Not to mention that he was always was plotting something.

"What should we do with her?"

Now that ticked Ubuvila off and she quickly turned her head around and faced the duo with a curious grin. Just at once, Itshe caught her glances and immediately snapped around at Kwelanga to silence him. "What do you mean do with her?" She asked and got out of her mother's grasp before the older female grabbed her with her front paws.

"Calm down Ubuvila."

But the princess was already disturbed and walked right into their front and stared at the two males. "You almost said that in a bad way." She added but was cut off from the light brown male.

"I didn't say it the way I meant. I was just kidding." He answered a bit embarrassed holding his front paw to his muzzle. He turned his gaze left and right towards Ikhaya and Itshe as if calling for help. Once again, he was unable to hide that from the young princess who kept shifting her from one of the older ones to the other as well.

She was sure that her mother and the beige male were into this with Kwelanga and that there was more going on than just the death of her grandfather. "Something is off here" She turned to her mother and stared at her with wide eyes. "Mother, what is going on here? First Kwelanga pulls me away from Kichwa to go meet father a quickly as possible. But that only to lead me on a huge detour where I find you and Itshe. And in the middle, I find out that grandfather died. But if that would not be enough, you are definitely hiding something from me. And I want to know what."

For a moment, none of the three said anything and thought about what to say. It finally was Ikhaya who spoke out to her daughter. "Well my dear, about that prid… Kichwa. I think that it might be best for you to not see him again."

Ubuvila's jaw dropped open and she quickly moved backwards. "W-What do you mean by that?"

All three of the older lion closed in on her and the light brown furred female became scared. She tried to move backwards even more until she came in contact with Itshe's chest. "Allow me to lighten you in my dear princess." He stared right down on her and she shrugged together even more. "By the time we are talking, I have send a small group of lions out there to get that little pridelander friends of yours and see that they are ripped into shreds."

The princess almost sunk together as she was confronted with the true nature of the beige male. "What are you… mother?" She searched for the warm support of Ikhaya but only found the cold blue eyes of the lioness that gave birth to her. "If father finds out…" But she got caught up yet another nasty laugh from Itshe.

"I saw your father this morning. Turned out he came down with a sudden case of _death_!" He mocked the princess pointed with his left paw into the direction of her mother. "Ironically, it was your mother that brought the final blow to him." He continued and Ubuvila nearly broke together on the spot.

She couldn't believe it, her mother, Itshe, Kwelanga… all had betrayed her father. And her father was gone as well as her grandfather. Not to mention that if what the beige lion said was true, she was losing Kichwa and his family as well. Slowly and desperate, she curled together and sobbed as she thought about never seeing him again.

"Oh don't cry for your father my dear!" The former pridelander continued to mock her and she raised her head again. "For he has gotten the better part of it. You see my dear Ubuvila, the worst part lies behind him. For you… it is only the beginning."

* * *

**Author's note and Trivia: **We'll be focusing on the north lands and the fight going on again in the next chapter. I have to get that out of the way in order to get back to the parts around Kopa and Simba.

The scenes of Ingozi and his brother after Isitha died are inspired by similar scenes from Gladiator, parts of the conversation between Kopa and Mwehu at the end of the last chapter are as well. I don't know why I do reference this movie so much since I wouldn't even put it under my top ten most favorite films. Even though I like that flick a lot.


	9. Out of the frying pain into the fire

Hi there…

Another chapter which will conclude parts of the inner conflict in the north lands and… that's about it. Got nothing else to say…

**Starzinmyeyez: **They sure are.

* * *

Chapter 9: out of the frying pain into the fire

"For you… it is only the beginning!" Itshe said to her as he and Kwelanga were now standing in front of the crying and sobbing princess while her mother stood in her back. The news of her whole life basically braking together in front of her had wrecked Ubuvila to a point where she was no longer even listening to what the beige male and the light brown female were constantly saying to her. If someone would have come to her and said he was going to kill her, she would have gladly agreed to it.

Seeing as how there was nothing to get out of the young adult female, Itshe made short eye contact with Kwelanga before speaking out to him. "I think we won't get anything out of her right now. Bring her back to king's hill, king Ingelozi shall say what we can do with her." He said and the light brown male walked over to the light brown lioness to get her back up.

But just when he was a few inches away from her, another figure jumped into the way and swung his paw across the light brown furred lion's face which forced him to shriek out in pain. All three were surprised to see who the figure was that had interfered with them and now stood protective in front of the princess.

"Ithunzi!" Itshe called out again and felt a sudden case of déjà vu coming over him. He relaxed his features which have gotten a bit tensed over the last moments. "You know, this is the second time this day that you disappointed me. That seems like a new record." He said and waited for the answer of his son.

Yet the only thing, the younger beige male gave him was a slight growl and stomp with his front paws. He switched his head quickly to the side and made contact with Ubuvila still lying on the ground. "Ubuvila get up, we have to go." He said as he spotted Kwelanga getting to his feet again.

Even though the princess was emotionally beaten, she quickly got her feet and followed the beige one away from the scene. As fast as they could, they maneuvered their body through the narrow path of the forest with Kwelanga giving chase immediately. The only ones left behind were Ikhaya and Itshe with the female suddenly turning around and glaring angry at the former pridelander. "You let them escape, are you crazy? We had her; do you honestly think that we will find her now that she knows?" She added furious but only received a delighted chuckle from Itshe.

He lifted one paw up before he answered. "You overestimate her. You know how young adult lions act, especially when they are in love. I know exactly where she is going. And she will run straight back into our arms." He turned around and walked back towards king's hill. "It might be even better this way, we can make her see the demise of her boyfriend and make her even more vulnerable and submissive."

Even Ikhaya was a bit shivered through as she heard the words of the beige furred lion and how he talked about her daughter. But even if she was a mother, she held little love compared to the fact that she was hers.

_[Miles away]_

Ithunzi and Ubuvila were now running side by side through their kingdom, a place that has become hostile and distant from them. Once every few seconds, they threw their heads over their shoulders to see if anyone was following them. "Thanks Ithunzi, but we have to find Kichwa and the others. They are in great danger." The princess said through her heavy and hectically breathing.

"I'm afraid that it is far worse than that. Your uncle and my father have completely insane. They want to take over the kingdom and invade the pride lands." The beige male answered with the same amount of panic in his voice than his cubhood friend had.

For a short moment, the recent harsh and busy events had wiped away the fact that Ubuvila had just lost her father to her mother and nearly every one that was close to him and her. "Yeah, I know!" She said bowing her head for a short moment but had to stay focused if she didn't want to trip. "They killed my father." With every time she said it, her heart sunk down even more.

The duo quickly stormed through the lines of trees being sure by now that they had ditched their parents and Kwelanga. Ithunzi glanced far into the distance trying to get glimpse of the length of this field. But that was very difficult due to the countless hills and valleys that they had to cross. _Hold on guys, we're on our way!_

* * *

Kichwa was right beside his father as they watched the group of lionesses and lions now only being a hundred yards away. He quickly made eye contact with Chumvi and the two rushed forward, followed short after by Kula, Akili and Moyo.

Out of the sudden, everything was back in Chumvi's mind. Hei found himself once again with the people closest to him engaging with a horde of enemies. Last time, he fought alongside Malka and Tojo against a clan of hyenas. Now he had to face a group of lions while being forced to fight for the lives of his family.

The dark brown male quickly brought his head forth hitting the first male coming his way directly on the side of its head. Kichwa for his part let the second one slide right over his back and hit the ground behind him. A lioness jumped straight onto his father's back before she got thrown off from it with her head landing first in the grass.

Kula for her part dived underneath a swing from another female before she rammed her with her hip and grabbed her claws around her from behind. She twisted her and the attacker around throwing her over her shoulder and hammering her right into a tree nearby. Both Kichwa and Moyo turned around in surprise and widened their eyes as they saw their mother laying the smackdown on one of the outlanders. But the older caramel lioness just stared back at them and shrugged her shoulder. "What, you learn to handle yourself if about fifty hyenas want you dead every day."

But there was not time for further talk as the male Kichwa fought before got back and jumped on Chumvi's son's back. Another one came and snapped with her fangs at his front legs. Finally, the second one grabbed on and bit down on Kichwa's front paw, he looked around and searched how his family members were doing. Every one of them had their paws full with fighting off the other ones. With the pain on his paw getting stronger and stronger, Chumvi's was about to drop on the ground.

Yet out of the sudden, something collided with him and he could feel the lioness on his back dropping off of him. Before Kichwa could go further, he found Akili tackling the lioness that held on to his paw. And though it was painful, he immediately felt the relief as the female let go. He watched his sister rolling around with the lioness just when he watched the other one from earlier getting to her paws and prowling towards the younger caramel female with the red eyes.

"Oh no you don't!" Kichwa called and rammed his head into the lioness coming from behind. The female rolled through the grass and kept lying there for a moment.

Kula and Chumvi slowly came closer to each other making their way through the attacking group of lions. The two stopped as they were standing side by side and searched the area for their children. Even though, Chumvi was out of breath, he was glad to see that Kichwa, Moyo and Akili were holding up for now. While he observed the fights his daughters and his sons, he got tackled and pulled to the ground by one of the males from behind. Kula shook up her head in shock but had no time since she herself was now facing two lionesses her own.

She could feel various hits from the females connecting with her head and she quickly tumbled backwards. Two pairs of fangs sank themselves into the caramel lionesses back and neck. From the distance, Moyo tried to reach her mother but got tackled by yet another female that was way bigger than Akili's sister. Chumvi and Kichwa were both managing rather well against the males (given the fact that Chumvi was probably the biggest lion in the world). Yet panic reached their faces as they saw the three lionesses being pulled back as well.

That was the moment when the male lion Kichwa was fighting turned himself towards his father and left the younger dark brown male alone with him now facing two lionesses as well. He was out of breath and unable to continue with this any longer. He himself got tackled down just like the rest. By now, all five pridelanders were pulled to the ground and stared up at the last male standing who glared down on them with hate.

"I have to hand to you pridelander scum. You really know how to defend yourselves." He said by mocking them. "Once we have you vanquished from this kingdom, we're going to take over yours and bring destruction to your old pride."

Though Chumvi was very well capable of freeing himself from the lions holding him down, he would be forced to watch one of his family member to die before he could lay a finger on the male in front of him. He was furious the moment he heard him talk about invading the pride lands, invading his home. "You seem to forget that we are under the protection of king Isitha and prince Ingozi." He said with a bit of won back self confidence.

But the male mocking them just continued to smirk and the brought his head down onto the level of the dark brown ex-pridelander. "You seem to be a bit short of the update pridelander. King Isitha and prince Ingozi are dead." The news all of the family like a lightning striking through a tree. "We are now under a new rule, the one of king Ingelozi and great-consultant Itshe." He said and continued eye Chumvi and Kula deeply. "He sends you his best regards." The smile he brought up was all the entire duo needed to know to realize what was going on.

"Who should we start with first?" One of the lionesses asked and Chumvi's heart sank all the way down into his kneecaps.

The male thought for a short moment until his eyes locked on Kichwa and his smile got even wider. "Get the little princess cupid. After he's gone, things will get a lot easier." He answered and the younger brown one gulped as he faced his sudden death.

A roar filled the air and the male facing the group got knocked over from behind and faced yet another male growling down on him. For Kichwa's sake, Ithunzi and Ubuvila were punctual and extremely well in timing as they were now about to turn the tables. Before the male could react, Ithse's son had rammed his fangs into the attacker's flesh and bit right through his bone. The male was immobilized and Ubuvila as well as Ithunzi now faced the rest of the group.

Chumvi and Kula quickly used the chaos and rumbled themselves free while the two allied northlanders jumped right at their enemies helping Moyo and the others. With one male lion down, and their enemies strengthened in numbers. It was rather easy to knock out nearly all of the attackers and finally, the five pridelanders and the two northlanders could greet them properly.

Ubuvila threw herself at Kichwa as she buried her head into his mane. Chumvi's son was completely taken aback by the fact that the brown female began crying into him. It took him a while until he realized that the dead Ingozi was after all, Ubuvila's father. He rubbed his forehead against her cheek as he whispered words of sorry into her ear.

"Akili!" Ithunzi called as he saw her getting to her still lying on the ground and having problem getting to her paws. He rushed over to her but stopped as he saw her smiling up to him.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" She assured him before she tried to put weight on her legs.

After she was done and was finally standing stable on her feet. It was Kichwa's turn to twist around and look into the group. "We have to get out of here; I bet they'll send more and more if they find out that these guys couldn't finish the job." He said with a sudden change in his voice and stared down the land that was no longer his home.

Having the same change of character in her, Moyo walked to his side and added her own words to her brother's statements. "He's right! They will not rest until they catch us and end us for good." For a short moment, everyone glared around to think about a solution of this problem.

"Just getting away from here won't be enough." Chumvi said out at once. "Haven't you heard what the he said?" He spoke out and pointed to the lion in front of the others. "We have to get back to the pride lands. We have to warn Simba." Chumvi added and stretched his legs as if to get ready for a long march.

The group was about to get ready themselves as they heard Kula call out from the back. "That's going to be a bit difficult." She said and Chumvi as well as the others turned around to face the caramel lioness. The dark brown male's face nearly fell to the ground as he saw his mate limping and being unable to put pressure on the injured leg.

It didn't take long for Chumvi to ran up to her and nuzzling her gently and licking her on her injured leg. "Relax Kula, don't pressure it too much. Here…" He bowed down and allowed the caramel female to jump onto his back. Both Ubuvila and Ithunzi raised their eyebrows as they watched the behavior of the pridelanders in front of them.

Kichwa for his part tried to put on some more pressure on the paw which he had got bitten into a short while ago. Yet he himself had trouble walking straight as his paw ached with every step. He shifted his glance around his family and realized that also his two sisters were injured and were unable to walk straight as well. "He shifted his head towards the group and started talking to the group. "We'll never make it to the pride lands like this. Better we find a place to hide and recover before we start travelling over there." He said and stared back at Ubuvila and Ithunzi.

The former princess thought for a moment until she brightened up her gaze. It was almost as if someone had turned a light on over her head. "And I know just the place where no one is going to find us." She said and smirked over towards Ithunzi.

Chumvi himself nodded in agreement and answered. "We better move fast, what about you two, are you coming with us?" He asked and forced the two northlanders to drop their heads.

"I just ruined the plans of my father… twice. I doubt that I am welcome here any longer." Ithunzi replied with a heavy tone.

Before the princess could answer, she felt Kichwa moving up to her and giving her a questioning look. "What about your mother, if your father was killed by your uncle. She should not be with them as well." He suggested and noticed the face of his girlfriend getting sad and angry at the same time.

"My mother and my uncle have been working at this clue together. She was the one that really killed my father. My own mother…" She was unable to say anything more while Kichwa tried to comfort her with his tongue moving over her cheek. The two rested in that position for a while before Ubuvila and Ithunzi took the lead and together… the pridelanders and the two northlanders started to make their way through the kingdom.

* * *

For the whole day, everything had been going according to plan. It was perfect. To everyone except he ones of knowledge, king Isitha died peacefully in his sleep. The only ones that knew that he was murdered were either dead (like Ingozi and Izulu) or were on his side. And that was something he was proud of the most. Not only did he mange to kill his father and his brother, but he also was able to have it mostly under cover.

The only thing that bugged him was that Ubuvila and Itshe's son had vanished in front of his consultant and his mate while the pridelanders managed to get away from his lions as well. But for now, that was a minor setback. Ingelozi wasn't even that sure what he was going to do with his niece anyway. But she had insides of the kingdom, and he knew that she was going to meet her pridelander friend. And as a matter of fact, the two were surely trying to get in contact with the king of the pride lands.

"The fact that my son has interfered with my plans… twice, really leaves a bad taste on my tongue." Itshe said as he and the new king sat on top of king's hill and stared down on the kingdom now belonging to them.

Both of them turned around as they heard Umnikozi approaching them and giving the king a short bow while greeting the two. "My king, we have silenced everyone that was still loyal to Ingozi." He said with a stern voice and went into a sitting position. The sun was standing low in the distance and signaled the sunset soon to come making sure that night was soon lying down on the kingdom.

"Any word from Kwelanga and the queen?" Ingelozi asked towards the male in their back without even giving him one single glance.

Yet the light brown male bowed his head and shook it slowly. "Nothing yet, the pridelanders are way better in hiding than we anticipated." He said out with some frustration.

But that was when the beige male turned his head around and he faced him at once. "It's not the pridelanders you should worry about. They are way too dumb to figure out how to hide in this kingdom on their own." Both north lands born males cold feel the despise which Itshe had for the pridelanders. "This is definitely the work of my son and Ingozi's daughter. They are the ones that know the terrain and its hiding places."

Ingelozi and Kwelanga narrowed their eyes as the two kept listening to what the consultant had to say. But right now, we have to make sure that they are not leaving the north lands. They know too much. If you want to keep your invasion plans in secret, you have to make sure that none of them reaches king Simba in time."

The words that were reaching the king's ears and he tried to make out what to do. "You seem to have a really good idea of what this is going on." He said with a short raising of one of his eyebrows. "So… what do you expect to do with this situation?" He half asked and half challenged the beige male at his side.

Itshe got to his feet and stared down into the distance with the wheels turning in his head. "For now, let them stay where they are. They are no threat with them being neutralized and isolated. The only thing we have to avoid is them reaching the pride lands." He turned around and faced Kwelanga with a nasty smirk. "Make sure that the border to the pride lands is guarded and that the pathways to the kingdom are secured. We will find them soon enough."

With that, Kwelanga bowed and walked back down from king's hill to where Ingelozi's most loyal lions were waiting. It was a group of about three males and ten females. "Alright, I want one half of you go and patrol the borders as tight as possible. Nothing gets in, nothing gets out. The other half of you… goes pridelander hunting."

* * *

By the dawn of the next day, the group including Chumvi, Kichwa and his sisters had left king's hill and death tree valley far behind them. The group wandered through a high plateau as the climbed a huge mountain. Ubuvila was still in front of the group as she led the way through the kingdom to where they could hide the best. Behind her was Chumvi still carrying Kula on his back with the older caramel lioness resting her head on his neck but still awoken.

Ithunzi and Akili followed right behind with Moyo and Kichwa building the end of the group. The seven of them had been walking for the whole night without allowing them any kind of rest. They couldn't just afford the northlanders to catch them after all what they had been through the other day. With the sun coming in sight on the horizon, Ubuvila slowed down and made a short look to the back.

"We have to cross this one." She said and stared down on the obstacle that lied in front of the group. They had reached a small gorge that was going far from left to right. The only thing that connected their side from the other was a giant tree that lied like a bridge over the deep way down. The former princess was the first to set her right front paw on the log and tested if it was carrying them well enough. "It is strong enough, come along." She shouted and walked right over the log.

In the back, Kichwa once in a while shifted his head to the back in suspicion and with narrow eyes. Even though he was sure that they were not followed, he still didn't trust that peace. Kichwa still walked forward until he heard something thud in front of him and then heard Moyo call out in front of him. "Hey! Can't you watch were you're… oh!" She stopped at the sight of what she saw in front of her.

Akili had stopped dead on the spot by the sight of the bridge she was about to cross. If she didn't have fur in her face, she would have turned white on the spot. With a blank and scared expression, she continued to stare down the gorge as Kichwa, Moyo and Ithunzi stepping beside her.

"Uhm… Moyo, would go forward and tell Vila that we will come after you in a while!?" Kichwa requested and his sister right away continued to cross the log and join her parents. The younger dark brown male laid his front leg on his sister's shoulder and whispered into her ear. "Listen Akili, we have to get across that thing." He demanded and gave her a quick lick on the shoulder.

But the young adult caramel lioness just turned her head around and faced her brother. "Y-you just go ahead, I-I think… I take the long way."

She didn't get any further as Ithunzi grabbed her head with his paws and stared straight into his eyes. "There is no long way, it's here or go all the way through the outlands." He connected their heads together and started to whisper to her as well in the sweetest way he could come up with. "Listen Akili, you just keep your eyes locked on mine. Never look any other way as into my eyes."

His voice was demanding and urging as the female gave him a short but unsure nod. In her back, Kichwa put his front paws on her back and said to her himself. "I'll hold you if you feel unsafe. I'll be right behind you. You just follow Ithunzi and I'll do the rest."

With Ithunzi walking backwards and Kichwa almost touching her backside with his chest. And just like the beige male told her, Akili never let her eyes off her boyfriend. Only once let she drop her gaze down and have her eyes directed to the bottom of the gorge. She was about to panic, but could quickly feel the two paws of her brother grabbing on to her back as well as Ithunzi calling out to her to set her eyes back on him.

After what took them an eternity, the trio had finally reached the other side and the young caramel lioness almost threw herself at the beige lion as she felt safe again. She gave both her boyfriend and her brother a lick on the cheek before the three joined the rest of the group. Ithunzi's and Kichwa's eyes met for a moment and Chumvi's son threw a quick _thank you _to the northlander.

"I thought that Akili had overcome her fear of heights by now. Thanks Ithunzi… by the way… thanks for everything that you done for us." He almost whispered into the other male's ear.

"Don't mention it! I guess that there's a lot things coming back giving the situation we are in." He said and Kichwa was amazed at how much wisdom had come into the son of Itshe.

* * *

After a long night which Itshe used to consult with the new king, he returned to his home cave which he and Umoya had lived for a long time. The beige male was tired and he could feel his legs giving in on him before he tried to make himself comfortable in his home. But as soon as Itshe had settled down, he could hear a voice from the dark call out to him with a sad voice.

"Go away!" It said in its weak and feminine tone as Itshe didn't have to think twice who had just spoken out to him.

He shifted his body around and stared right to the source of the voice. This was the last thing he wanted to put up with. But it had become some sort of his nature to answer angry retorts with nasty grins and sarcasm. "I sense that there is some sort of hostility and decline in your voice. My dear wife Umoya!" He answered with a slimy smile.

Right away, the beige lioness came right into his face and had her green eyes piercing straight through the male's eyes. "You dare call me your wife, after what you did the last day and how you treated our son." She turned her voice into and angry snarl as she widened her eyes even more. Itshe could tell that the female had been crying for most of the day. Within one day, the once shiny and beautiful coat of Umoya had turned into a messy and disturbed rug covering her skin.

Even though the beige male had shown his full amount of cruelty and despicableness, it almost broke his heart to see the lioness he loved being dirty and beaten up like this. He made a few steps forward and tried to touch her with his front paws. But Umoya just walked backwards until she reached the wall of the den. "Stay away from me you… monster!"

The word monster ran through his body almost like a lightning. He never intended the beige female to be in this kind of pain. Now, Umoya hated him just as much as Kula did. Yet some part inside him just shrugged it off like a really bad itch. "May I remind you my dear that I have never ever been that powerful before? And with that said, I have the resources and the power to either make you the most important lioness in the north lands and the pride lands combined, or I can as easily dispose you off."

Umoya couldn't turn back even more, and yet she wanted to. The sudden change of her mate's personality made him a bit frightening in her eyes. She quickly turned her head to the side in defeat and the beige male grinned down on her in triumph. "You see! And don't worry about our son, I will make sure that you and him will not be separated for long."

He closed in on her and nuzzled her gently while the female didn't fight the tears dripping down her eyes and cheeks.

* * *

With the situation around king's hill getting worse by every day. Kichwa and his family had finally reached their supposed destination. It was a thick forest made out of exotic trees including palm trees. The trees were standing really close together providing the whole area with enough shelter to hide a whole lion pride in it.

At a small clearing in the middle of it, Kichwa was enjoying the first nice and long sleep he had for quite a while. At the sides of the clearing, his family was lying side by side with Kula resting with her head lying on the stomach of her mate Chumvi. Moyo and Akili had snuggled up to each other without Ithunzi and Ubuvila in sight. Even though, the group of pridelanders had gotten to know the kingdom they took refuge a long time ago, they still weren't as much aware of the landscape as the two lions that had been accompanying them with their journey.

Noises came from the outside of the clearing and Kichwa quickly jerked his head up seeing Ithunzi and his mate rushing to the place out of breath. "Okay, the borders are no option." The former princess gasped through her heavy breaths as she had a hard time catching her breath.

Right away, the whole family was on their paws and surrounded the two northlanders. Ithunzi read the questioning looks of Kichwa and right away answered the dark brown male. "Just like I anticipated." He started with a slightly defeated voice. "He knows that you know what the plans of Ingelozi are and that you want to warn the pridelanders and so he lets patrols run the border with great caution."

Kichwa almost cursed inside as he felt the paw of his father coming onto his shoulder. "We all knew that he was going to do that. But then again, there are more ways to get to the pride lands than going the direct way." He met the confused eyes of is son and continued. "We have to travel through the outlands. It is a big detour, but it's the only other way."

At once, the caramel red eyed female Akili stepped between them and raised her head in protest. "There is no way I let you and mom travel through the outlands. Not in your condition." She said and pointed down on her mother's hurt leg.

"And there's no way I am going to abandon my birth place again." The caramel lioness replied showing a fighting spirit and strength with her voice.

But she was cut off when Kichwa got right into it. "Sorry mom, but I am with Akili on this one, you have suffered enough in the past. She, Moyo and I will make sure that Ingelozi will not win over the pridelanders." It was interesting to see how her son was changing so rapidly over the last days. Not only was he helping the others by getting here, but he also was somehow taking a leading role. It almost seemed like he was transforming into a pride leader, a king even maybe. And even if Kula wanted to protest, and even found some support in her mate, the determined and tensed glances of her children made her lay down and except the fact that the next generation was fighting this fight.

"I'll make sure that we keep moving and won't get spotted by my father and his followers." Ithunzi spoke out and gave the son of Chumvi a warm and supporting smile.

Kichwa joined in and the two shared a short embrace. The younger dark brown male then turned to Ubuvila and glared at her with all the love he could offer. "I'll come back and help you avenge your father… I promise!" He said and even was surprised himself at how noble and even phony he sounded. The former princess nuzzled him tightly before each one of the three siblings gave their goodbyes to their parents and their north land friends.

The last thing they did together was Akili and Ithunzi share a last nuzzle and various licks on the other ones heads before the three siblings started to pad into the other direction of the outlands. The three former pridelanders still limbed a bit and couldn't really forward that easily "What were you saying a few days ago Chumvi? Funny how those three still play around as cubs when they turn into full adults in a few months."

Chumvi chuckled a little but relieved as he replied. "Seems like, they don't grow up so fast… they grow up even faster." The two left pridelanders walked towards each other and rubbed their cheeks against the other one's while both Kula and Chumvi shared a tear mixed with joy and fear.

* * *

_[the next day later]_

"Sire!" Umnikozi said in a low voice as he entered the cave which Ingelozi made his king's chamber over the last days since his takeover. "We are ready." The lion in the entrance added and waited for his king to respond. The landscape outside was dark with the night fallen over the kingdom. What was strange to see was the even though there were no clouds up in the sky, the sky showed absolutely no stars at all. The only visible thing in the sky was the moon which was turned into a crescent form.

The new king sat in his position with his face directed to the wall and turned around. If Umnikozi wouldn't have spent so much time with king Isitha, he would have shrugged back a little by the sight of is new king. Ingelozi's eyes were even more green than they used to be. Yet though they looked well aware, at the same time they looked a bit agitated and distraught. It was almost scary to see them stare into the darkness and at the lion in front of him. "What about the group of refugees?"

"No word of them for four days!"

Ingelozi went to his paws and walked straight over to him and smirked through the night. "Then let's begin as he lead the two out of the cave and revealed the sight of king's hill in front of them. He slowly and silently chuckled to himself. "Soon, I will be coming to you Simba. I will destroy everything you have. I will kill your queen, kill your cubs, kill your family. I will enslave your pride and destroy your home."

The lions at his side almost stepped back as he heard his king talk in this deep and raspy voice while he was grinning from one ear to another. "And once I have your at my mercy with everything you once knew and loved is perished…" He stepped forward and grinned even more as a slight chuckle escaped his muzzle. "Then… you will my permission to die."

With that, he and Umnikozi joined a group of about 25 lions and lionesses waiting for their king to lead the way towards the pride lands and war.

* * *

**Author's note: **Yeah sorry… but I couldn't resist using the "The dark knight rises" line. Good movie but "Batman Begins" is the best of the trilogy.


	10. End of an era

Hello Guys.

So we're continuing our story and shift our focus back to the pride we have been following for the last three stories. And just to calm you down, it's not going to be as bad as the title might suggest it. I just started chapter 16 today and I think that this part will have about 20 Chapters. So that makes Chapter 10 the half time mark. So we're actually now moving in the second half of part three.

**Reldor: **Yepp it's getting more and more serious. I can't tell you if Kichwa and his sisters will make it in time (Spoilers) but you will see at the end of the chapter.

**LionKingFactsGuy2: **I would love to say that there's nothing to worry about… but that would be a lie. Just hang in there and remember what Kuthumis said. "It gets worse before it gets better."

**Starzinmyeyez: **The batman line really is a good line. And thanks about the compliments about writing fight scenes.

I actually already explained the thing with the names in Chapter 3 (I guess)!

The names of the pridelanders and Hiyana former pride are mostly Swahili; the only exceptions are Kimae and Malisi which I made up on the spot. I took them from an online dictionary where I just started to type in some words. You know, the usual stuff (Ghost, truth, poison), and then I just took the words for it that sounded the best. And there is actually some thought into it… like the cubs of Tama and Malka are named Kivuli and Nuru (Shadow and Light) Or Akili, Moy and Kichwa (head, heart and mind).

And then we have the northlanders who have basically the same meanings in words. Only this time I took them from a dictionary for Zulu. The best example is Jiwe/Itshe with Jiwe being the Swahili word for Stone and Itshe being the Zulu word. That was one of the most important things to divide the pride lands from the north lands. That's why I made the pridelanders believe in the great kings and the northlanders believing in the great ingonyama.

The third part about that was taking the names for the valley pride from a dictionary for Hausa. In that case, I just needed another African language that I could use to make the place sound and feel foreign and far away.

But enough of me talking, let's continue with the story…

* * *

Chapter 10: end of an era

The morning broke over the pride lands and just like all days, the herds of animals wandered peacefully and calm through the plains of the kingdom. It was just a normal day with the sky being completely blue except for a few clouds moving through it and a slight breeze went through the air making the green and yellow grasses bend in the wind. For all inhabitants… it was a day like any other.

But that didn't count for everybody. At pride rock, the cream furred queen Nala had sat down in front of the den that served as a sleeping point for the whole pride. The lioness's face was worried seriously as she seemed to wait outside of the cave for what was coming out of it. He ears lied flat to her head and she had her nose facing the ground. Rustling, inside made her shake up her head and stare with worried eyes into the den. "Are you alright Simba?" She asked and waited for the king inside to respond to her.

"More or less!" It came from inside and short after the golden furred, auburn eyed and red maned king stepped to the outside and greeted his mate with warm but weak smile. If someone was walking by and never had seen king Simba in its life before. They wouldn't believe that this lion standing at pride rock was once a majestic and strong looking male.

Huge parts of his golden fur had turned into dark spots all over the place. Though his red mane was still intact, it wasn't as rich colored as it used to be. His hair was muddled messy. But the thing that would have worried someone the most was that the king had rapidly lost weight and skinned down to a degree that was actually scary.

Seeing her mate standing at her side like this broke Nala's heart almost every day. Together with Simba, she stared down on pride rock as she let the coughing down the pathway of pride rock. The moment they came down, a tarnish/orange lioness waited for them at the feet of their castle with a gentle and caring smile on her face. Tama herself felt awfully sorry to see one of her longtime friends slowly going dying in front of her as well. Of course she didn't know if he was really dying. But the fact that it was getting worse with every day let her fear for the worst.

She gave the queen a quick nuzzle before turning onto the king while keeping a sight distance from him. It was something that Simba demanded from nearly every one. The only one who was in no way following that demand was Nala. After Tama greeted the two, she smiled up at her queen and began reporting. "We are ready for the hunt Nala. You should know that Kiara is leading the chase today." She said and brought a proud smile on the cream females face.

Since her husband had become so weak over the last weeks, she was the one accompanying the golden male through the kingdom and participate in the decision being done to rule the kingdom herself. Something that left her cubhood friend Tama in charge of the hunts and Kiara with leading the charges. It was something that was most important in developing Kiara's skills as queen later on.

"Thanks Tama!" Nala replied and gave her a quick embrace while Simba only waived his right front leg in a friendly wave.

The royal couple passed by Tama and continued walking through their kingdom. "Imagine!" Simba said out of the sudden before he coughed a few times. "Our little girl, leading the charge on the hunts." He said unable to hold back the pride he felt towards his daughter.

Nala at his side giggled a little responding to his words. "Yeah! When you think back at how bad she was when she started hunting. Kiara is really becoming the queen we intended her to be. Strong and caring." She answered raising her head to enjoy a short breeze meeting their furs. "You know that… back then… I was wondering if she would manage to learn the techniques of hunting at all before Kovu arrived." There was a slight amusement in her voice as she recalled on how the golden/cream princess was doing in her early years.

"Well, you know what they say… don't blame the student, blame the teacher." The king threw in with a sly smirk.

The queen stopped dead in her tracks on the spot and switched her head around facing Simba with wide eyes and a challenging grin appearing on her face. "Do I sense some sort of accusation coming from that old muzzle of yours?" Nala asked and continued to stare at Simba.

Seeing the opportunity, the golden male stepped away from the lioness and continued to smirk while facing her with the corner of his eyes. "Come on Nal. You know I would never do that. I was just wondering how the greatest huntress and mother in the world could take so long to have a natural born talent know the ways of killing prey."

Nala boiled inside as she felt the amused glares of her mate meeting hers. "Natural born! You know that she comes after you? Which brings us back to the saying, bad material brings bad results."

Though the queen knew that in a way, she reducing the skills and abilities of her daughter, she kept smirking and waited for the answer of the king. And Simba didn't let her wait for long. "Oh that's low, even for your standards. May you allow me to quote you on this one… ahem?" He cleared his throat and started talking while imitating her voice. "No, no Simba… you leave the teaching to me now. With your over protectiveness, she will never learn anything." He swung his front legs in a dramatic way while the queen had her eyes turned to narrow lines. Simba continued to imitate his mate. "Besides! She is MY daughter, I'm sure she'll have learned hunting in no time."

With that Nala got closer to him. "I warn you Simba! Don't make me angry, you don't wanna' see what I'm like when I'm angry:" She added before she shoved Simba with both her front leg and made the king tumble backward and fall right onto his back breathing heavy.

At once, the cream female stared at him a bit sorry and worried as Simba glared back at her. It took a while and the two began laughing at each other which turned higher and happier by every second before the king got right back to his paws. Both royals had to catch their breaths. "I can't believe it." Nala began after they had calmed down sat just beside a small tree. "I finally got to see you laugh again."

Simba faced the ground a little bit mischievous as yet another chuckle escaped the golden furred male. "I… I guess… I guess it was about time that I find it back." He answered his wife feeling almost the need to make for a few missed chances of the past. Yet he relaxed as he could feel the queen burying her head in the side of his of his neck.

"Yeah, it was about time."

* * *

_Father was right, this place is by far the greatest and richest looking kingdom one lion has ever seen. _It went through Ingelozi's head as he glanced down the land that lied in front of him, a land that he was willing to conquer no matter what the costs may be. He inhaled deeply as he took the breathed in the first scents of his new home. "There it is Itshe. The pride lands. Any feelings coming back yet?" He asked almost challenging towards the beige male standing right beside him.

"Not yet but… there's soon more to come." He answered with both lions putting on stern expressions. "King Simba and the queen will put up a decent fight, but they should be no match for us. This will be surprisingly easy." The former pridelander said with a slight tone of arrogance coming out of his voice."Our plan is working perfectly."

Yet Ingelozi continued to stare down the land and shook his head slowly and frustrated. "If my plans would work perfectly, the only thing I would have to do is walk to pride rock and let throne be handed over to me."

This statement caused Itshe to raise his eyebrows, and give the new king of the north lands a short but mistrusting glare. "If your plans would work!? Is there anything you forgot to tell me?" He requested half upset about the new king not filling him in into something and half frustrated with himself that he seemed to have missed something that could have been useful.

"Oh my dear friend. You have to keep in mind that I am not willing to spoil every plan and every plot that I have set up. Always remember that." He padded the beige male on the shoulder and turned his head around to stare at the pride in his back. With a short roar, he signed the others to march forward as the army of lions set their paws into the pride lands.

Itshe stayed behind for a short moment as he felt anger reaching up inside him staring at the back of Ingelozi. _Always remember that! Oh I will remember that, but keep in mind that I myself don't tell everybody what my true intentions are._ With that, he followed them as a nasty grin appeared on his muzzle.

* * *

With the king and queen taking their tour through the pride lands and the princess leading one of the hunting parties, it was up to other members of Simba's pride to take care of the newest and youngest members of the royal family. Mto was keeping his head up and observed the land around them as he kept constant guard by looking for hostiles. A few feet away from him, Shani and Chaka were wrestling together with Nuru trying to knock the orange furred, blue eyed of her feet.

Both lions were used to having the duty to cubsit since Nala had gotten more and more involved with ruling the kingdom. Another side effect of Simba getting more and more weak. Nuru laughed as she could feel the brown furred male cub coming from behind and climbing on top of her head. The two young ones had grown quite a lot over the last weeks. They had gotten so big that the orange furred female gave in to its weight but send Chaka rolling over her and landing on his back. Tama's daughter let out a short laugh before she glared over towards Mto.

"Hey serious, don't you want to come over here and take your turn to maintain these two." She called over but found the dark ochre one still sitting on his spot and staring around in alert. "After all, I should probably take some rest since… you know!"

Mto closed his eyes as he thought about what she said. "I highly doubt that Nuru, Rafiki says you're expecting our cubs in only about three to four moons. Besides… Nala has ordered me to watch you guys. And that's what I'm going to do." Tojo's son replied before he kept returning his gaze wander over the pride lands.

It was in that moment that the duo of lions spotted another group of pridelanders passing them only by a few yards and forcing the two cubs to stare over at them and lighten up their gazes. "Uncle Meethu!" Shani shouted right away and ran over to the trio with Nuru following close behind.

Just the moment before she was about to reach her grandmother's brother, she got caught from behind by the orange female and grabbed by the scruff of her neck. Shani squeaked out amusement before she got dropped down again. "Now what did your mother always told you? When you come across males that are on patrol, always be polite and ask first if you can meet up with them." She said and the little female let her ears hang in apology.

"Hey dad, where are you going?" Mto asked as he stopped in front of Meethu, Tojo and Malka continuing to overview the area.

The ochre male gave his son a short nod before he turned around to his two friends. "Patrolling the northern borders. And thank the great kings that Malka is not in charge of this one or else we would end up at the gorge by nightfall." He added with a slight mock towards the pale orange one standing beside him and directing his nose towards the sky.

Nuru for her part laughed at how her father was named to be so bad at directions that he was taking off leadership when it came to patrols. But Malka never seemed to be troubled with that and just shrugged his shoulders. "I don't see what the big fuzz is about; I am perfectly fine of finding the mangrove tree by myself. The rest is basically a cub's play."

"I can totally see that!" It came from Meethu who was finished nuzzling his grandniece and now had his head directed at his friend. "Remember our last trip to the western hills?" He then asked the pale orange one and smirked broadly at him.

"Yes!" Malka replied. "What was so wrong with that?"

"We wanted to take a walk around the southern border."

Nuru's father stayed quiet after that since Tojo and Mto almost completely busted out in hysterical laughter. But the ochre one quickly turned around and gave his two male friends a sign to move on. "I guess that's enough. We should already be on our way." He said and moved away from the group. "Nice seeing you Nuru, but we got to go."

As quickly as the three had appeared, they had vanished into the deep grassy fields of the pride lands. Mto walked beside his mate and stared after them. "Those three are probably the weirdest guys that are living among us. And that is coming from a guy that grew being watched by a warthog and a meerkat cracking jokes all the time." There was a huge amount of sarcasm in his voice as he spoke out her.

But he quickly got distracted once both Shani and Chaka had sunk their tiny teeth into his tale and made him gave away a short roar. "Alright you little… that's it!" He called and started wrestling with the two little cubs while Nuru and kept laughing as she watched them.

* * *

There was thought in Simba's mind that kept growing and growing over the last weeks and months in which his health had gone downwards. Something that was even cementing itself in him when he didn't even know what was going on inside him. But ever since he could feel that he was turning out like this, he invested every spare second in getting everything arranged so that he could do this properly. It was the thought of giving up his post as king and passing it on to Kiara.

At first, he never thought the necessity of doing it since once he was ready to leave this life, he had taught his daughter everything she needed to know to rule this kingdom. But then a few days ago, he had this meeting with Rafiki where he finally got to know what he was up against. And that day changed his whole view of the situation.

_Again, the old mandrill moved his hands over the king's body and felt the dark spots spreading all over his back. His face had turned stern and he had his eyes narrowed down to a point where it was hard to tell if they were opened or closed. A few feet away from them, Nala watched the two as she gave out sigh after sigh watching her mate suffer with her being unable to do anything. _

_Raifki was finished with his work and walked around to have his face directly in front of the one of his lion friend. His tiny eyes spoke a language and remorse as he put his right hand on the king's back. "It is done!" He simply said and the king was confused if this was a bad or a good thing. _

"_You're done! What are you done with, is he going to be alright?" They heard Nala come from the back and look at both of the two male animals._

_The old mandrill glanced over at both of them and faced the ground with half opened eyes. "No… and… no!" It were only two words, two simple words with one syllable that nearly sucked all the live out of the royal couple. "I'm sorry Simba but… wat yu hav her' is a disease dta causes yur lungs and respiratory to collapse." _

_Nala could only imagine what was going on inside Simba. She herself felt like losing every single memory of joy she had ever felt before. Yet that was only a glimpse of what her mate was feeling right in that moment. Quickly, she walked over again but got hold back by the monkey standing in front of Simba. "I wouldn't com near him if I wer' yu." He spoke out with the queen stopping dead in her track. "I'm sure that dis is contagious." He exclaimed to her to make sure that she understood how he was acting._

_The moment he saw the piercing aqua eyes of the cream female, he stepped back and let the queen connect her head with Simba's. The golden male turned his gaze back on the mandrill and asked out loud. "You… you said no... and no when Nala asked if I'm going to be alright… does this mean?" He asked with his auburn weak orbs searching for any sign of hop in his friend's eyes._

_But the monkey didn't even have to think how to answer and simply shook his head. "I'm sorry!" He simply said and Simba as well as Nala dropped down to the ground right away. "Her' is wer I reached de end of my knowledge. I even hav no idea how yu didn't get infected yourself." He said and pointed one finger at the queen. _

"_Guess we should not be surprised since we've already established the fact that you have a weird body." The golden furred male said with a weird smirk escaping his muzzle. Once again, he faced the piercing aqua eyes of his mate and shrugged his shoulders. "I know what you are saying but… it's true… you have a weird body. Beautiful… but weird!"_

_Nala gave away yet another smirk before they faced Rafiki again. "How long does he have?" The cream furred female said resting her head on Simba's shoulder. _

_It took a while before their long time friend answered with a heavy tone. "Honestly, I don't know. Weeks, months… maybe a year." _

_That was definitely something he would have never expected when he first showed the symptoms of his disease. He felt his wife snuggling up to him and wrapping her front legs around his head. It was at this moment that the king felt as weak as he had never been before. He felt more sadly than when his father died, more sadly than when he saw his mother die on front of him with his first born son already sunken in the Zuberi-river. He buried his head and into Nala's fur as he began to cry with the cream female to joining in._

Now that he was walking alongside Nala once more and given the fact that it couldn't be that long until it was over made him realize how few time he had left and that he couldn't waste any moment of it. "Nala!" He said out of the sudden almost cubish as he searched for a reaction. He heard her giving him a warm 'hmm' to make him realize that she was listening.

"I have been thinking, about the idea of me stepping down from the throne and giving it to Kiara." Nala gave him no reaction signing that she was still listening. "I've been thinking about getting it over the next days." He could see the cream female throwing her eyes at him once in a while. "What do you think about that?"

The queen gazed to the sky and then back at pride rock before she answered. "I don't know Simba, I don't know what might be the best. If you let Kiara and Kovu rule while still being the wise voice in the back, your last months together with us might be enough to give you the piece you deserve. But then again, are the two ready to be queen and king already. I just don't know."

Simba shook his head slightly as he thought about it himself. He himself was unable to tell if either one of the directions he was going to chose was the right one. Yet he knew that he had to decide sooner or later, before he ended up unable to rule the kingdom and let the pride lands go down without a rule. He had thought about this for a long time… and he decided that the time was right.

* * *

The horde of northlanders marched forward as they came across a small mangrove tree that out of the sudden had appeared in front of them and which Ingelozi had a sudden rush of interest in. He observed the tree carefully padding around the plant carefully. He faced the beige lion staring over at him and quickly threw yet another question at his closest follower. "Strange, I can almost tell that this tree holds a special meaning to the pridelanders. What is it?"

Itshe gave the king an odd look. He questioned himself why he had been so interested in the mangrove tree. He decided to stop thinking about it and simply answered. "That's the mangrove tree." _Duh! _ "It serves as an orientation point for the lions of this kingdom. Once you find yourself here, you can basically reach every point of the kingdom with ease."

The words ran through the north lands king's mind and the lions being along him started to see a strange glimpse of madness reaching his mind. "Demolish it!" He commanded and the beige ex-pridelander as well as some of the other males stared back at each other with confusion. "I don't know how you are going to do this but do it. This tree is the first sign to the pridelanders that their reign is over. In the meantime…" He turned towards Itshe and the northlanders. "We continued on our march."

_[A few hours later]_

Nuru and Mto were still playing around with Shani and Chaka as they heard the roar calling them for the joint lunch of the pride. Kiara, Tama as well as some other lionesses carried a buffalo towards pride rock and smiled upwards as they saw Simba and Nala smiling down on them. A few miles back, Vitani also heard the call as she made their way back to pride rock with Kovu walking along her side.

Mbio and Kivuli were walking across the western hills as they kept patrolling the western borders. The tarnish furred son of Tama out of the sudden perked his head up and stared all around the place. It was almost as if he could feel an event occurring that was bringing the circle of life out of balance. The pale golden male at his side stared at his friend and followed his nose as he tried to get what he was searching for.

But neither one of them had an idea.

Malka, Tojo and Meethu were still wandering through the northern part of the kingdom keeping their eyes open for everything that was probably coming their way. The ochre male in the front once in a while faced the ground as he thought about the recent events taking place around their king. "You know! Every time I walk back to pride rock, I can't help the fact that it is breaking my heart to see Simba lying there in his misery." He spoke out and caught his two friends by surprise.

"You can say that again!" Meethu answered right away as he took a sniff of a small puddle of water figuring out if it was drinkable. "And to make matters worse, he's getting worse." The queen's brother added shortly staring into the direction of the other two.

The last one joining on the conversation was Malka. "That has its reasons." He found Meethu and Tojo staring at him as if they had a feeling that the pale orange one knew something that they didn't. "You're missing the picture here. He's dying!" His friends gasped and shook back their heads by the words which their pale golden friend had been using. "There's no other reason why he has been training Kovu and Kiara that much. He wants to get everything ready once he is done for."

Both Tojo and Meethu were speechless as they continued to listen to Malka talking to them. Yet their conversation was rudely interrupted.

"PRIDELANDERS!"

Malka turned towards Tojo and glanced at him with a confused glare. "Did you say anything Jo-jo?"

"Pridelanders!"

The trio turned around towards the top of a small hill as they saw a brown male coming on top and staring down on them with his green eyes. At once, the gazes of Meethu, Tojo and Malka went stern as they continued to glare at this male lion that they had never seen before. Right in that moment, another male appeared on top of the hill and followed the glare of his king with great curiosity and interest.

Ingelozi brought his head closer to Itshe and said into his ear with a low and calm voice. "Is anyone of those three the king called Simba?" he asked never taking his eyes off the three pridelanders in front of them.

The beige ex-pridelander examined the three carefully as he know exactly that neither one of them was Simba, yet he tried to figure out who they were. _Who would have thought that those three would still be here? _He asked himself while figuring out who they were dealing with. _That one is definitely Tojo only one lion has this fur color. The other one must be Meethu, Nala's brother. And the third one…_

"You know that you are trespassing right, what is the meaning of your entry of this kingdom?"

_Definitely Malka! _He brought his head closer to his king and answered without the three down below hearing them. "No one of them is Simba! However there is a member of the royal family present." He added and the king began to smile.

He made a few steps closer and could see Malka and the other two stepping up into a line still having stern glares on their faces. "Greetings! My name is Ingelozi, king of the north lands." He said with a booming voice as his speech filled the area. He could see that the expressions of the three males turned confused and stared back at them. "And to answer your question… I am here to bring an end to your King's reign and start one of my own."

Meethu turned towards his friends as he was about to scratch the top of his head. "Correct me if I'm wrong but… did anybody of you give away to someone that we were in need of a new king?" He asked not taking the situation quite as serious as it was going to be.

Beside him, Malka shrugged his shoulders and faced the king standing on the hill. "You know, I hate to break it to you but… we're actually kind of happy with the one we got right now!" He called out with a sly smug smirk on his face. "So what about you and that little friend of yours are getting back where you come from?"

But Ingelozi had not come this far to turn right around because of some lions calling over to him. "In case you haven't noticed, this was not a request." He said and forced Meethu as well as Malka rolling his eyes. "I am ready to dethrone Simba and bring the two kingdoms together so that I can rule over them… as king of the grand lands."

Neither one of the three moved a muscle hearing that they were facing an invasion right here. "I got the feeling that he doesn't seem to be impressed by us." Tojo went in as a short growl escaped his muzzle.

"Yet there is still time and a chance for you to not get run over in the process of my victory. If you stand loyal to me, I can guarantee that you will have a future in kingdom as servants."

By now, the three pridelanders grew a bit annoyed of the overdramatic and even crazy way the king was talking to them and saw Malka taking yet another step forward. "Is this guy real?" He asked half joking and half mocking directing his face to his face and his paw pointed towards Ingelozi.

"ENOUGH! The time has finally come! The time to fulfill my father's greatest wish and implement the idea that king Scar and king Isitha put together years ago. I will demolish your home, enslave your lionesses… and corrupt your cubs." An evil laughter escaped the brown male as he directed the group of lionesses and lions moving up behind them and growl in an intimidating way towards the three males down the hill.

The moment they heard the mentioning of Scar's name, the three shook back a little. But once they realized what turn the speech of Inglozi was taking, they started to face palm. "That's it!" Meethu said out of the sudden and stepped beside his pale orange friend. "You know pal! There's something that you forgot to mention something inside your little plan." He called out and Ingelozi kept laughing.

"And what is that!" The north lands king said in arrogance and amusement.

"Us!" Malka answered for his cream furred friend and charged forward accompanied by Tojo and Meethu.

* * *

At pride rock, nobody knew of the fight that was going to start in the northern part of the kingdom. Simba's weak and disturbed smile had been running circles for the last hour and he thought about how to make it clear to Kiara and Kovu that, not only were they going to be queen and king in the morning, but only that he was going to die within the next years. He decided to wait after the lunch and when he could gather Zazu, Kicho and Rafiki so that they could be the witness the passing of the throne.

Kiara and Kovu had just brought their two cubs into the paws of Nuru and Mto as they heard their father and king calling for them to meet on the top of pride rock. Both young adults were a bit confused about what could be that important that the two should come to meet their parents at once. Slowly, the cream/golden female and the dark brown male climbed the pathway upwards which they have not done in so many ways.

Up ahead, Simba sighed as he waited for the two to come in sight. This was probably going to be the most difficult thing he ever had to do in his life. Right after that time he had to walk up to Scar and retrieve the throne in the first place. "So often, he had to fight for the privilege to be the king of the pride lands. Even if it had to be to fight against a clan of hyenas as well as his uncle or Zira and the murderers of his father in law, mother… and his son.

"Just relax Simba it is going to be fine!" He heard his queen call from the back and put a paw on his shoulder.

The sun stood high in the sky and the golden furred male stared upwards searching once more for the guidance of his father. But once again, he didn't expect anything to come from beyond and neither did he_ really _request it this time again. Then he heard some wings flapping in the sky and saw Zazu and Kicho landing right beside his paws and bowing to their weak looking king. Right after that, he saw Rafiki coming up as well and doing the same. Yet his smile was more of a sorry sounding and regretting type.

"Daddy?" He now could hear his daughter and her mate coming up and sitting down in front of him as well. "What's wrong?" Was all she could say as she saw the sad expressions on her father's face.

But the king just stared at his mate and then back and forth between Zazu and Rafiki. He then glared back at the young couple in front of him before talking out to them. "As you two have probably… seen," He started with a slight tone of sarcasm. "I am actually not in the best… shape!" He almost chuckled to himself as he thought at how bad he started his announcement.

Nala nudged her paw into his side making sure that Simba wasn't turning this into a stand-up act. Feeling that, the king stopped and turned his face straight again. "I… I actually have been sick way more seriously than I myself had thought for a long time." He coughed a few times and Kiara and Kovu shook their head back a little.

They all waited for the golden furred male to continue as Simba had to fight back some tears. "The fact is… I… I'm…" He shook himself a few times before he finished. "I am incurable sick." Just like he and his mate, the color in his daughters face had vanished within a second. Kiara's ears fell flat to her head as she realized what was happening to her father.

"What does this mean?" She asked getting to her paws and walking up to her father before she got hold back by her mother.

Nala shook her head slowly as if to say. _That is dangerous. _The queen gave her a faked and short smirk before she answered for the male. "It means that your father won't have much time until…" She herself couldn't fight back the tears coming from the inside of her brother.

In the back of her, Simba got to his feet and walked to the side of the queen. "And that's the reason I have called you here now." He said and saw the two younger lions to tilt their heads slightly to the side. "Given the fact of what's happening to me, I am no longer able to rule this kingdom by myself. It's time for you to take over my throne and the duties as queen and king." At once, the muzzles of Kiara as well as Kovu dropped open as wide as they could and stare at the golden male in shock.

"B-B-But… But what about you? If I am queen, what are you going to be?" The princess asked with urging eyes and a still being unable to speak properly.

But her father smiled down on her and waived the thought of with his paw. "Don't worry; I'm still with you two. If you need anything, I'll gladly help you." Simba assured her and was able to get at last a little bit through to the golden/cream female.

Kiara and Kovu both nodded their head knowing that this was not the way they wanted to take over the throne and have Simba step down from it. And they surely weren't able to do it right in that moment. But given how serious the king seemed to be, they obeyed. Simba sat down and then turned his head to the old mandrill and the blue hornbill.

For the whole time, Zazu had kept quiet and just followed his king's words with interest. "Well sire uhm… I mean Simba." He said realizing how Simba didn't actually want to be called sire by Zazu. "In order for you to step down as king, you have to tell the oath towards the great kings and name the one being your successor in front of Rafiki." He added and the golden furred king sat down in front of Rafiki with Kiara sitting on the other side.

With a heavy heart, he started to speak. "In name of the great kings, I… king Simba hereby deny all my rights to the throne and pass my power on to my daughter Kiara." He stepped towards the edge of pride rock as he gave away five short roars that hailed through the air. Rafiki for his part waived his stick over the former king's head as a sign of him stepping down.

"Kiara!" Zazu said and landed on Nala's daughter's shoulder. "You have to step up to the ledge and give away the roar that every queen and every king has to do once they want to assume the throne. It was in this moment that the legs of the young female had begun shaking and her stomach twisted around in her nervousness. She realized that it was only seconds before she would become queen and the thought frightened her. Short after, she felt the supporting nuzzle of Kovu at her side and she slowly started to follow her parents down the path.

They hadn't gone very far until they saw Tama running up into their direction with panic in her eyes. "SIMBA, NALA!" She yelled and almost stumbled over her own paws. "I just got a gopher bringing terrible news." All the royals tensed up by that statement and the tarnish/orange lioness continued. "Some lions are invading the pride lands; Malka, Jo-jo and Meethu have already engaged them."

"ALONE?" Simba called out stressed out.

Tama simply nodded and at once, the king turned right around and sprinted right to the top of pride rock. Once he was there, he stared right into every direction that he could from up there. In the distance, he could see several dark spots moving quickly through the grass and pure horror reached his face. "Oh no!" Without wasting any more time, he got down and joined his family waiting for him confused. "We have to assemble the lionesses at once."

* * *

Malka ducked right underneath a lioness that came from the top of a small bolder in the back of the pale orange male. He would have had no idea she was coming of Tojo hadn't called out to him in the last second. He quickly went forth and slapped the attacking female before she could get back on her paws. The pale orange male glared around the place where he could see him, Tojo and Meethu left behind with about five lionesses and two male lions. By that time, Ingelozi and the others had moved on towards pride rock.

"You know what Malka?" Tojo called out while used his front paws to hold off another lioness trying to get at his neck. The ochre colored pridelander had his back leaned on yet another bolder fiercely for his life. After his friend had answered with a short _Yeah! _He directed his stare to the giant rock formation in the middle of their home. "This is the third time I get a serious case of déjà vu."

But this time, the pale orange one didn't respond right away as he still found the time to think about that. "Normally, I… argh… would agree with you. But I can't see what this is relating to." Malka twirled around to shove off another lioness hanging on his back.

Meethu for his part was way occupied as he was teamed up by the pair of males with them trying to get a hold of his legs to pin him to the ground. But the queen's brother managed really well to avoid getting caught. He even managed to throw one of the males over his back as he collided hard with the ground.

But that gave the second one enough tight close in with his fangs around his neck and slowly wrestling him to the ground. The vision which Meethu had in front of him was getting blurry already as he shook back and forth to shake him off. Only a precise and heavy kick by one of Malka's back legs right to the male's head knocked him out cold on the spot and the pale orange lion helped his friend back to his feet.

"Jeez, I could really use a break right now." Tojo mumbled turning around and still found four lionesses and the single male growling at them and slowly getting forward. "Okay ladies!" The ochre one shouted out at once as he kept breathing heavy. "I call for a tactical time-out!" But his words only hit on deaf ears as the group of five felines charged in on the pridelander trio.


	11. One shall stand, one shall fall

Well hello again!

I see a lot of you really do have concern of the being of SImba. I don't want to give away anything, but the death of Simba will be satisfying enough for you. In the meantime, let's get answering on the comments.

**Tanabi and LionKingFactsGuy2: **Keep calm! It's not going to be that bad… at least later on. Just relax and trust me!

**Reldor: **You got that right. He should have finished that, it would have things way easier in the later part of the story.

**Starzinmyeyez: **Stay relaxed. For now, _Koch _and Kiara are in charge. Let's see how that turns out.

* * *

Chapter 11: one shall stand, one shall fall

As soon as he got down onto the place where his pride had settled down, Simba ordered everyone to get to their paws and ready themselves. Kicho right at once spread his wings and set flight to find out how many lions were coming towards them. Simba eyed his pride as he began to speak. "We should get ready at once. Nuru, Mto!" He said and directed his gaze towards the orange female and the dark ochre male. "I want you to take care of Shani and Chaka. Bring them somewhere where they can be safe."

Tama's daughter glanced at him with a face mixed with disappointment and doubt. "But sire… we can fight and defend the kingdom as well." She called out but cut off from the golden male as he waived his paws in front of her.

"Not in your condition." He simply said and caught the orange female completely by surprise. Nuru threw back a glare that almost asked how he could have possibly found out. Yet Simba returned the gesture with a nod to the queen who stared completely innocent. "Mto, you are responsible for her. Make sure that she doesn't get hurt." He ordered and the dark ochre male bowed acknowledging. "Alright, then let's…"

"Aren't you forgetting something?" He then heard the voice of his mate calling out to him and putting her paw on his. The king turned around and faced the eyes of Nala as they spoke out every single thing that she had to say to the male.

Simba glared at her frustrated before rolling his eyes and facing the pride again. "Not now Nala, there's no time."

But the queen quickly cut him off and addressed the pride himself. "Alright, Tama and Vitani will lead the lionesses to attack the strangers." She called out glancing over to the pride. "Niyani, Subira, Nafsi… you will go and aid Malka and the others." The queen continued and the three older lionesses and once darted off into the distance. "Zazu!" Nala called and the blue hornbill came landing directly beside her. "I want you to find Mbio and Kivuli, we're going to need them too."

Simba was completely taken aback as he watched his wife taking full control of the situation and setting up a plan to defend their home. It didn't take long and the greater part of the lionesses including the sister of Kovu marched off into the distance towards the foreign pride. The king and the queen watched their pride getting into a motion in a well organized way.

It was then that the queen laid her head on his shoulder and smiled up to him. "Sorry to steal your thunder but… I had to do something before you were going out there yourself and gat flattened with the condition you are in." She said with a gentle tone and took a few steps forward. The only ones left at pride rock were she and Simba alongside Kiara and Kovu as well as Nuru, Mto, Shani and Chaka.

The two cubs had snuggled up to their mother as she tried to calm the two down. The golden furred female began to cry as she realized that she was about to be separated from her mother. "Don't cry Shani! Auntie Nuru and uncle Mto will make sure that you two will be fine." She said and licked her daughter numerous times over the head.

Kovu himself came up and nuzzled both his children with a gentle smile on his face. He then turned towards Mto and eyed him deeply. "Make sure they're fine… or else I'm going to come after you." He said with his teeth bared and Mto stumbled back a few steps.

"Sure… no problem!" Tojo's son replied with a unsure and unsafe smile while directing his gazes towards the king and queen and back. But the dark brown male laughed a little and clapped the ochre male on the back as if to say… _Just kidding!_

With a few last gestures of love from their parents and their grandparents, the two cubs followed Nuru and Mto to the backside of pride rock. The whole time the adults were in sight, the two cubs never kept their eyes off them before they had completely vanished. Kiara and Kovu relaxed their faces from the forced smiles they had put on and exhaled deeply.

With the four members of the royal family being the only ones left, Simba turned to the cream female being right at his side and asked out loud. "So… with that been taken care of, what are we supposed to do?" He asked and gave his mate a worried glance as he waited for Zazu or Kicho to report.

* * *

Simba's old friends Tojo and Malka couldn't believe it, they were being chased through their own home by a bunch of foreign lionesses. Never in his life since he came would he have dreamed about it. But here they were. With heavy breaths, the trio managed to dodge or deflect any jumping attack that came from the lionesses jumping at them. Tojo was in front of the group as they crossed a small creek which was not far away from the Zuberi-river.

In the back, Meethu gave a brown lionesses jumping at him a few strikes with his paws which made her tumble backwards and leave the cream male standing over her and giving a final kick to the head.

"Wow, these lionesses are way tougher and I would have expected them to be." Malka said between his breaths while shoving away another female attacking him. Soon, they found themselves surrounded by the northlanders again before flashes of tarnish and pale gold came running passed them and getting straight into the rumble.

One single glare at them made the trio of lions realize that they had just been aided by Subira and Nafsi as well as Niyani. Tojo's face lit up as he saw the pale caramel female running off and sinking her claws into the back of another female and wrestling her to the ground. "Glad you can join us honey!" He called out to his mate while Subira and Nafsi had teamed up to bring another female to the ground finishing her.

Soon, the group had won the upper hand just in time for Kicho to land in the middle of them with flapping wings. Subira right away moved up to a lioness that tried to crawl away from them and at once pressed one claw onto the female's throat. "Now, it's time for some answers." She said and growled down on her. "What is going on here?" She asked and Kicho as well as the others listened carefully.

"They say, they are coming from the north lands. King Ingelozi…" Malka started but didn't get to finish his statement.

Because at that point, Tama's mother brought her head up and just continued to stare at the foreigner. "That means that king Isitha is dead. What happened to prince Ingozi?" She asked stern and with another growl.

But the lioness just turned her head into a nasty smile and responded as she chuckled to herself. "Prince Ingozi is dead, we stay loyal to king Ingelozi and consultant Isitha. We all serve to see the demise of the pride lands and their inhabitants." Subira let her go and struck her claws over the lionesses face.

"Get to Simba, tell him that this is an northlander attack and that we should be really careful." She wanted to warn the males as the white and black pied spread his wings again and flew into the direction of prides rock. "Now…" Subira started again but didn't get far as she got tackled by the lioness that she had interrogated before and the two rolled over the ground.

Growls and roars filled the sky as the two females on the ground started to roll towards the edge that led directly towards the gorge of the Zuburi-river. "WATCH OUT SUBIRA!" Nafsi and Niyani yelled out at the same time. But it was too late, with wide eyes of shock, they were forced to watch both of them tumble over the ground and immediately rushed after them. Niyani was the first one to arrive at the edge and stared down hoping to catch a glimpse of Tama's mother.

But there was no sight of anybody. With horror, the group stared straight down into the river where they had seen their longtime friend and aunt vanish into the blue and cold water. "No!" Was the only thing that Malka said as he saw no sign of his mother in law. With hanging heads, the group turned away from the cliff except for Malka.

"Come on Malka!" Nafsi called to her son as she saw how sad he looked. "We have to keep moving." She added with a sad voice as she saw the pale orange male walking along her way. It was one of the first times; she had ever seen her son completely lost of words. "I know that this is disturbing, but if we have to be on guard. The northlanders are still in our home and we have to get them out of here."

The male just nodded and the two followed the rest of the pridelanders back to where the fight was going on.

* * *

At another place in the pride lands, Ingelozi and a few of his followers had caught on to a female and pressed her to the ground. It was one of the lionesses that had returned alongside Vitani and the other outlanders. She tried to resist the merciless grasps of the king as he spoke out to them. "Now! I think it is time for someone to finally bring a light to the situation we have here." He said with a nasty smirk with the lioness still struggling. "Tell me, what are the members of the royal family? And how well are they trained?"

The female gulped before she spoke out and told the king everything he needed to know. "Simba is our king, but over the last months, a strange illness has taken the better of him. He doesn't look good at all, but neither one of us knows exactly what is going on with him." She stopped as she saw the smug faces of the king.

"His mate Nala is currently ruling most of the kingdom and his daughter Kiara is married to the lion called Kovu." That sentence made Ingelozi shook back and let a surprised laughter escape his muzzle. "And then there are the two cubs of Kiara, Shani and Chaka."

_Cubs! That changes a lot._ The brown furred, green eyed male turned his head and glared at two other males in his back. "Usizo, there are two royal cubs out there waiting to be found." He said and without any other word coming from the male in his back, he vanished along with four females and two other males.

Ingelozi turned his head back around and face the lioness at his mercy. "See! That wasn't so hard." He said before twisting the lioness's neck around and leaving her lifeless body back in the grass. He got together with Itshe and Umnikozi before turning his face yet into another grin. "If the king is really this bad in shape, I bet they are holding him back at pride rock. Well protected." The three faced the pride rock and the king called out with a smirk. "This should be fun."

* * *

"Are you sure?" Simba asked as the major-domo in training had just come back and gave away his report.

Simba and Nala stared at each other until their daughter and their son in law couldn't take it anymore and glared up to the royals before the golden/cream female began asking out loud. "What is the matter with the king of the north lands?" She asked and her voice demanding and even a bit scared as she saw the worried faces of her parents.

They stared over at her and they started to explain. "There has been an ongoing rivalry between the north kinds and the pride lands. It is the kingdom that lays north ours. The border is small and is located right between the outlands and the shadowlands." He said and Kiara as well as Kovu listened carefully.

"We were told by your grandmother that the northlanders had always been jealous of our kingdom and how we were living in this rich landscape." Her mother answered and she already started to twist her head nervously once in a while. "With the northlanders invading our kingdom, we have to be careful and keep ourselves on guard all the time." She turned her head and glance over at her mate. "And you can guess who the first one is, Ingelozi will go after!"

But Simba didn't have to think to know that he was the one that was the target of this attack. His heart made a drop down into his back legs. One second, he was ready to step down as king and leave it to the next generation. And in the next second, he found himself fighting for his life and the lives of his family. But in this shape, he was unable to face the king of the north lands.

In that moment, Zazu came back and landed right in front of them with pointing his beak towards Mbio and Kivuli padding over to them. "What's going on, how can we help?" Was the first thing the queen's nephew said before he and his tarnish friend stopped right in front of the four royals.

Simba was about to answer as Kiara right away cut him off and called back on her friends. "First of all… you can help my parents to get out of here."

Both the former king and the former queen went dead silent as they turned completely still with their muzzles hanging white open. With a mix of disbelieve and astonishment, he stared at his daughter before questioning out at once. "Come again!"

_[Miles away]_

The pride lands had turned into a battle ground. The northlanders and the pridelanders had met in the middle of the kingdom and right away engaged in battle. Vitani and Tama were at the front as both lioness extracted their claws and threw the first punches at the invading pride of lions. Who would have thought that the tan female that once tried to conquer the pride lands herself, was now trying to prevent even that from happening. Quickly maneuvered her body out of the way and scratched her front claws over the back of the northlander.

Across the field, the group being led by Nafsi moved their way right over into the mess that was going on in the plains. The pale golden female jumped onto a lioness that was about to bring her teeth down on Spotty before she threw her around and rammed her into the ground. A male coming from behind himself wanted to sank his teeth into Nafsi as Malka came around and hammered his head into the male's side.

In the middle of the battle, Tama circled around with another lioness as both of them threw their mad eyes at each other and smirked viciously. The tarnish/ orange lioness with the orange eyes observed every single move of a muscle which her opponent did and every inch of her body was tensed and on alert.

The other female that stared over at her was a light brown one with blue eyes. She stared at the queen's best friend with arrogance and thirst for her blood before she smirked and mocked Tama as she spoke. "So this is what I have to put up with. I am supposed to become the queen of the greatest kingdom which ever existed. And they put me up against a simple subject." Ikhaya said with her high pitched and an arrogant voice.

"Be careful _your highness_… this subject can fight even better when she's angered." Malka's mate answered with a smirk of her own. At once, the two females charged at each other as Tama quickly let the supposed queen roll over her back while kicking her with her back leg into the Ikhaya's side. The light brown female landed on her paws and slid slowly over the ground.

Again, they ran at each other before the northlander got hold of Tama's shoulders with her claws and swinging her around. Tama landed on her side before rolling to the side avoiding Ikhaya landing on her stomach and pressing her to the ground. For a short while, the two exchanged various strikes and blows slowly giving them scratches all over their bodies.

It was then that the brown furred female shoved Tama to the ground and jumping straight onto her as the tarnish/orange lioness smirked to herself. _Let's see if you know this one._ She thought and shifted her body around before she landed on top of Ikhaya and had her pinned to the ground. "Pinned ya!" She called as she smirked down on the queen of the north lands with her claws high up.

"Tama WATCH OUT!" She could hear Malka call and quickly twirled around and was barely able to avoid king Ingelozi coming from the side and trying to smack her across the head. But before she could react the second time, Ingelozi's mate got the better of her and she sailed through the air landing hard on the grassy field.

With shock in his eyes, he yelled out to the tarnish female and right away stormed over to his mate and growled viciously coming to halt beside her. Ingelozi in the meantime helped his mate back on her feet as the duo quickly moved away from the pridelanders back into the mess surrounding them.

Malka had completely lost sight of the duo and turned his attention back onto Tama. "Hey!" He called urging her. "Are you alright?" The pale orange male added .

Just a short second later, Tama got right back up and stared around to find Ikhaya as she was seeking with her eyes for revenge. "Yeah!" She answered rubbing her head quickly. "Yeah I'm fine, I just lost focus for a short moment." With that she was standing back on her paws as she and her mate tried to get a grip on how the battle between them and the northlanders was going. She almost couldn't believe it. They were slowly getting pushed backwards as it seemed like the invading pride was gaining the upper paw. But she had to be careful and search the area for the foreign king and queen.

But in the distance, Ikhaya and Ingelozi slowly moved themselves away from the battling lions, which wasn't easy with all the bodies and lioness sailing and sliding over the ground with their claws extracted and getting ready and sank them into anything that was not on their side. The brown furred northlander royal moved along with his mate as they vanished behind a small boulder. He surveyed the battle going on before turning to his mate. "Get Inhloli, Umnikozi and Umfula… we're going after the king!" He said and Ikhaya right away called the three males standing in the back.

They quickly moved their way through the fighting lions as they smashed their claws into the faces of several lioness that have been outlanders once before. With all the other ones being occupied, the group marched nearly unnoticed inot the direction of pride rock with no one standing between them and the sick and weak king.

That meant… nearly unnoticed. Kicha sat on a tree branch staring down on the battle going on. The eyes of the black/white pied set themselves on the group of five northlanders marching forward as panic reached his mind and he quickly searched forward to find someone to help.

It took him a while before his eyes locked on a cream furred male far away from the fight as he wrestled a foreign female to the ground and knocked her out completely. As quick as possible, he flew over to Meethu as he called out to him. "Meethu!" He landed right on the lions shoulder and called into his ear. "We need your help! They have set their course towards pride rock. They… they're going after Simba."

Quickly, the queen's brother widened his eyes as he went into a sprint without thinking twice. "I'm on my way!" He said as he turned around the boulder. But he had to stop immediately as he found himself coming face to face with yet another two females who growled at him with anger. "As soon as I am done with this."

* * *

"Say what!" The king said out perplex as he couldn't believe what the young adult had been saying towards them for a short moment. Just a few seconds, his daughter had told him that she intended for him to leave the pride lands at once. But he right away stared into the stern brownish/red eyes of Kiara and saw that she was dead serious. "Kiara, you can't be serious! I'm not running away from my pride and my kingdom… especially my friends and family." He demanded with an angry and authorial voice.

But his daughter quickly met her eyes with the ones of her mother as Nala seemed to understand it herself. "Daddy, please!" She almost started to plead. "In your condition, you're in no way able to defend yourself. Please… you have done enough. Let us handle this fight." She looked up to the golden furred king with her eyes being wet full of tears.

Simba glanced around the group as he himself met the eyes of his mate as she herself was urging him with the same look on her face. Yet he shook his head slowly and stared back towards Kiara. "I… I can't. I am the king and…"

He didn't get very far before the golden/cream female interrupted him again and she gave him this look of slyness which she often gave him over the last years. "Sorry daddy! But don't you remember, you are no longer the king. You wanted me to become the queen with you being out of shape." She caught Mbio and Kivuli staring at them with the biggest confusion in their eyes she had ever seen before. "So please… just this once… listen to me."

The former king could feel Nala brushing up to his side and felt that she agreed on what the young adult in front of them was saying. He eyed everyone in the group and then nodded his head in defeat. "I don't like the idea but… If it makes you feel save, I'm doing it for you."

The next ones coming over to the group were the long time friends of Simba which brought him through the time of his cubhood. Timon and Pumbaa had listened in on the group of lions for quite a while no2w and were well informed about what was going on. "Hey Simba, what's goin on here?" The meerkat asked nonetheless as he extracted his arms to the side of his body.

"You better get going as well Timon." Simba answered quickly knowing that there was no chance for them to live here if they were unable to stop this invasion in this day. "It's not safe for you to stay here with all these hostile lions around.

But the king could already see the disagreeing gazes of his friends before Timon answered jumping on top of his warthog friend. "Are you kidding me? We're not going to leave you back here all on your own. We would never abandon you ever again." He said with some panic gesturing wildly with his hands.

Yet the two were stopped when Simba brought his head to their level and smiled at them gently. "I know you wouldn't Timon. But see it this way, if one of those lions catches you, you're doomed. With you two being around, there's no way I could sleep safe." The three stared at each there for a few moments before Timon and Pumbaa locked eyes on each other and shrugged their shoulders.

"Alright Simba! If you say so, we will follow."

Even before Kiara and Simba s well as the rest could respond, the lions were interrupted by Kicho flying towards them with panic still in his eyes. "SIMBA! NALA!" He called out at once to the king and queen with his wings still flapping wildly. "They're coming!" He was completely out of breath and ignored the pleadings of Kovu and Kiara for him to calm down. "They are five, and they are coming this way." At once, Simba and Nala stared up as a little despair reached their minds.

"You have to go now!" The princess called right away before she turned her eyes on Kovu. "Do me a favor; escort my parents till they reach a pace safe." She said with the dark brown male shaking his head right away.

"I'm not going to leave you, not right now." He answered before he felt the head of his mate rubbing against the side of his own.

In the back, Kivuli felt really sorry for the two. Even though, he still wouldn't consider him one of his friends. But he still had a soft spot and would never do something anymore which would upset Kiara. Right then, Vitani's brother slowly shook his head as he agreed on her idea and walked right away to the side of Nala and Simba.

To say that Simba hated the idea of him fleeing the pride lands would be an understatement. But when he thought about it, he had no choice but to agree on it. With the way shape he was in, he was no match for Ingelozi. What hurt him even more was the fact that he could not allow himself touching his daughter and risking the fact that she could get infected herself.

But right then, Nala walked up to her and she wrapped both her front legs around Kiara before she whispered something into her ear. "Be careful!" She said and followed Simba and Kovu down a side path of pride rock. But not without turning her head around and facing the two other young males standing beside her daughter. "Make sure she's safe… or I come back and make you feel sorry." Both Kivuli and Mbio gulped heavy fearing that the queen would come back for them in reality.

As long as he could, Kovu kept his eyes locked on Kiara before they vanished and noises could be heard from the distance. The two males joined the princess and stared to where they expected the king of the north lands and his followers to pop up every minute. And indeed, it only took a few seconds until the brown furred male along with his mate and three strong looking lions jumped up onto the ledge as they growled at the group of lions waiting for them. "Where is he?" Ingelozi called out staring directly at the golden/cream female in the middle.

"You won't find him, for now, you have to put up with us." Mbio right away called with a mocking grin. Yet he wasn't sure if this threat was really working on the king and his subjects.

Ingelozi narrowed his eyes as he observed the two males and the female in front of them. Suddenly, he started to laugh maniacally with a tendency to become lunatic. "Oh this is a classic. I am going to enjoy this." His eyes set on the princess in the middle and he stared over to her with bloodthirsty eyes. "Especially when I see the king's face when his daughter murdered at my paws." He didn't waste any more time and the group of five lions right at once attacked the pridelanders and Kiara bared her teeth.

The group collided right in front of the den with Ingelozi quickly swinging his right paw into the princess face before quickly marching through the pridelanders and continuing on his way towards Simba and Nala. He was followed by Ikhaya as the two left Umnikozi, Inhloli and Umfula back with Mbio, Kivuli and Kiara.

Mbio avoided two swings from Inhloli before ramming his right front paw into the northlanders chest before slapping him with his left. Yet the foreign male didn't pull his head back that much before he gave him a left and then a right sending the pridelander tumbling back at once. Inhloli then jumped at Mbio with the northlander pressing Meethu's son to the ground.

Just a few inches to the side, Tama's son Kivuli was fast enough to bring his body underneath Umfula before throwing him over his back directly into Inhloli. The northlanders collided with each other and rolled away from Mbio as they didn't waste any time before getting to Kiara. For an elegant looking lioness Kiara, it was difficult to hold herself up against a full grown male as her attacker Umnikozi was, yet the training session with her mate and her mother did their tribute and she managed to buy some time. She was losing focus as the northlander pressed her head to the ground before Mbio and Kivuli came and pulled him away from her.

The three found themselves now face to face with Ingelozi's followers growling over to them.

* * *

Nala and Simba were moving as quickly as possible with the queen trying her best to support her mate with every part of strength she had. Kovu for his part kept turning his head and his body as he searched for any northlander activity coming their way and trying to harm them. Never in his life had he been so tensed and never did he try to keep his senses this sharp. In his back, Nala kept her head straight as she supported Simba with her shoulders keeping him straight in line.

Already, the former king felt exhausted and beaten. And that feeling got even stronger as he could hear noises behind them and he as well as his mate turned around. Their eyes locked on Kovu and the young adult was able to turn around before he got hammered in the back by a lioness coming from behind and bringing Zira's son to the ground instantly. Nala gasped up in shock as they two found themselves confronted bay Ingelozi and his mate. Instantly, her eyes wandered off onto Kovu as she saw the dark brown male shaking his head as he was still dizzy from the previous hit on his head.

"Finally, I get to meet the almighty Simba… the king of the pride lands." His eyes locked on the golden male as he leaned against the queen to not sink down onto the ground. "Nut I feel disappointed, what do I find here? A weak and exhausted wrack of a king." He walked closer as Nala went forth standing now between her mate and the attacking king.

The sudden loss of the support of the former queen caused Simba to nearly fall to the ground as nala continued to snarl at Ingelozi. "If you only touch him _once…_ you'll feel really sorry about it." She warned him but only forced the northlander king to smile down on her.

"So this is _the_ _queen _of the pride lands!? I must say, the rumors are true. The queen is really a beautiful lioness; let's see if the other half of the stories are true as well." His face still held a mocking smile while he gave a short wink to Ikhaya as she moved forward.

At once, Nala was tensed even more as she could see the light brown female came closer to her snarling in a mocking way. The cream furred female could tell that the male still standing was looking forward to see Nala getting hammered by the female northlander. Simba's mate had to decide if she would give in to this challenge or if she would stay guard to her mate. She knew that once she and Ikhaya were going at each other. The field for Ingelozi to get towards Simba was widely open.

But there was no time for her to choose. At once, Ikhaya tried to swing her paw at him as Nala ducked down underneath and brought her own right paw into her face. The north lands queen was surprised to see that the cream female had actually struck her across the cheek. She tried again and again missed her before the former pride lands queen smacked her across the face once again. Again and again, Ikhaya missed and received smacks from Nala time after time.

For another time, Ingelozi's mate want for her as she tried to grab her with both her paws and claws extracted at once. But for another time, she slid to the side and pressed her face first into the ground pressing both her paws on the back of Ikhaya.'s head. The light brown lioness spit dirt onto the ground as she was barely to see with dirt covering parts of her face.

Even Ingelozi was surprised as he saw how well skilled the creamy lioness was and how she basically dominated his mate. But then again, he knew that he was now able to get to Simba any time he wanted. The golden furred king stared in shock as he once more was forced to watch other ones fighting the battles he thought he had to fight himself. Ikhaya now got more and more angry as she charged for Nala again rammed her head into the former queen's shoulder before wrapping her front leg around her and sink her claws into her fur.

Yet Nala quickly managed to shift the weight of her body and threw her half way over her body while biting down on the light brown female's left shoulder. As the foreign lioness now lied a few feet away from her, Nala charged forward and tackled the northlander on the head bringing her down for good. At once she stopped over and growled down on Ingelozi's mate with her teeth bared and lusting for flesh. But her newfound joy didn't last long as she felt the fangs of Ingelozi clawing down on her left back leg as she got tossed around and flew a little bit over the ground before sliding over it. She had to shake her head before looking up and seeing the duo coming down on her.

"NALA!" She could hear Simba yell as he came to rush to his mate's aid. Yet he was so weak and slow that the brown furred male had it rather easy to slap Simba himself and he slid right to the side to the cream furred female. Ingelozi obviously had enough and raised his paw to bring it down on the king.

"NO YOU DON'T!"

In that moment, the attacking king was surprised as Kovu got back from his spot and bit down on the paw of the king. Simba stared up relieved before he could feel Nala getting back to her paws again and engaging yet in another battle with Ikhaya. Even though it was even more difficult to bring the foreign queen to the ground, she managed it as they now watched the battle between Nala's son in law and Ingelozi.

Kovu was trained to be a fighting machine with the fact that he was supposed to bring the reign of Simba to an end. And with his muscles growing even more, he got even stronger and he had become even faster. Ingelozi was completely unprepared for this fierce attack with Kovu smashing his paws into his face and his back clawing and biting at everything that was colored brown. With loud gasps, the northlander stumbled backwards unable to fight back the harsh and angry attacks.

With a loud scream, the dark brown male gave Ingelozi the final blow and he landed on his back his front legs extracted looking like he was begging to not get hit any more. Zira's son stared down on him with the most anger he had ever felt before. "You come here and destroy the live that we have built up here. You _dare _to threaten my family and my pride. And… you _dare _to come here and kill the ones that gave me the only family I ever had." He growled viciously and walked in even closer on the older brown lion.

It was the first time that Ingelozi got a close look on the younger lion that had just brought him down onto the ground. _This… this is definitely the one! _He thought and he brought the edged of his muzzle upwards and smirked upwards towards Kovu and got slowly into a sitting position. "Kovu I presume!?" He questioned him.

"Kovu, be careful!" It came from Nala and the dark brown lion kept staring at the northlander with great tension. She still had her paw pressed on the northlander queen.

Ingeozi eyed the queen with the corner of his orbs before staring back up on Kovu. "I must admit… when I came here to take what is rightfully mine, I never expected to come here and fight you." The smirk on his muzzle grew a bit wider which unsettled the queen and the king. "Even if your muscles are bigger and bulkier, you have the slick moves of your mother."

The young adult was so not prepared for that statement and his eyebrows moved upwards with his head snapping back. However, he suddenly got curious about what was going on. "What do you mean by that?" He asked and formed a growling expression on his face. "How do you know my m… Zira?" He continued to say but stopped himself from calling Zira mother, just like Vitani.

Hearing that, the king of the north lands got delighted trying to get to his paws while the dark brown male continued to growl now even angrier and vicious. "I see… You don't know anything." A slight laugh escaped his face and he stared right into the green eyes of Simba's son in law. "Well in that case…" He ignored the calls of Nala and Simba to warn Kovu to stay focused as he spoke out to him again.

"Let me tell you a story! There were once these two kings. One was called Isitha my father, former king of the north lands. And then there was Scar, the king of the pride lands." Right away, Kovu sank down one of his paws and he and stared with a strange feeling of knowing what was coming. "These two kings once made a deal. Scar would help my father bring the rebellious prides of his kingdom to their knees while the other one would agree on merging down the two kingdoms into a giant one called the grand lands."

In the back, Simba and Nala stared in shock as they heard yet another story of how Scar was constantly coming back to ruin the lives of the lions living in the pride lands. "Living with Scar, there was a lioness that was full of lust to become a queen, I guess you know her." Ingelozi smirked even wider once again and Kovu's muzzle dropped open even more. "Seeing as how she was never going to become queen, she decided to make a plan of her own in order to become queen once the pride lands and the north lands had become one. However, the one she was seeking for had no idea that she was not doing it because of him, but because she wanted to carry on the legacy of Scar."

Underneath the cream female in the back, Ikhaya herself was surprised to hear this. She observed her mate carefully and once in a while faced Nala with the corner of her eyes. The former queen of the pride lands had her eyes locked on the two males in the distance and didn't pay that more attention to the light brown lioness. Away from them, Ingelozi kept talking to Kovu.

"If the lioness would have stuck to the plan, the only thing the king of the north lands had to do was to come hre and just receive the surrender of the cubs. But as we can see now… that is not going to happen isn't it… Kovu?" He made a pause before he spoke out the young ones name and smirked up again.

Right in that moment, Nala got her voice back and yelled out to Kovu at once. "KOVU! Don't listen to him anymore, we have to go." She urged him and panic reached her eyes once more. She was sure that the brown furred foreign lion was up to for a trick, but it was too late. The dark brown male was standing dead still and had all his attention directed on Ingelozi.

"Yes what about it Kovu?" For a short moment, the two looked into each other's eyes and the king began to smirk viciously again. "But you won't do that won't you, you wouldn't strike down your own father now, would you?" All the three pridelanders had an idea that this was coming. But yet they were all unable to hold back the shock that was going through their veins and minds.

Kovu let his paw sink down to the ground and he slowly backed away from his 'father'. He could hear an urging call coming from Simba and Nala to warn him. But he didn't listen to them at all with his eyes locked on Ingelozi again. After he let th words sunk into his mind, he narrowed his eyes down and spoke up. "You're lying!"

But the foreign lion just kept his arrogant an relaxed grin. "Do I? Can 't you see the family resemblance? Your mother bonded with me to give Scar the heir he deserved since her fist born seemed to be a complete failure." Images of Nuka's death immediately ran through Kovu's head as he recalled what happened that day. "But now that you are here and know the truth. We can rule these two kingdoms together. You and me could form a dynasty that could last forever."

Another growl escaped Kovu's muzzle and he brought his teeth close to Ingelozi's muzzle. But that was when he heard a loud gasp and was forced to glance back over his shoulder. Ikhaya had turned the tables around and was now pinning Nala to the ground with a triumphant and nasty smirk on her face. He quickly turned his head back around and found the northlander king standing in front of him with a triumphant and evil expression as he growled over to him. "You are not the son I expected to meet here. But we can change that forever." He said and charged forward to get at the dark brown male in front of him.

Yet what he didn't calculate in were two males getting into this fight as well. It all happened incredible fast. At the same time, Ikhaya was pulled away from the cream female while Ingelozi found himself tackled by a cream furred male forcing both northlander tumbling over the floor and nearly land directly at the paws of the pridelanders staring down on them. "What?" The brown furred king asked at once as he stared up in the aqua eyes of the former queen's brother Meethu.

"I think it might be the best for you to get out of here while I keep these two busy for a while." Meethu said out at once to his sister and his brother in law. Simba got back to his paws as well after he intervened and brought the queen of the north land to the ground with a loud gasp. But all three of them had no time as they heard noises and growls in the distance which were definitely coming their way. _These must be the ones getting past Kiara and her friends._ Meethu thought and turned around towards nala as he gave her an understanding look.

"AHHH!" he suddenly screamed out as he felt something sharp closing in on his right hind leg. With his face filled with pain, Meethu glanced back and saw Ingelozi having bitten down on it as the cream male sank together to the ground.

Nala's ears fell flat to the side of her head as she stormed over to her brother and laid down beside him trying to help him get to his paws again. As quickly as possible, Meethu tried to put some pressure on the hurt leg but collapsed as it gave in on him. The brown furred foreigner must have bitten right through the bone braking it.

The tow siblings locked eyes and the former cream furred queen brought her ears back once again as she spoke out seeing the expression of her brother. "No!" She simply said as Simba and Kovu watched from behind. Nala kept lying beside him as she urged him to get back up. "Meethu please, don't do this!" Even more panic then before was in her voice as she understood what Mbio's father was about to do. "You can come with us!"

But he quickly cut her off as he gave away a slight laughter of sarcasm. "Are you kidding me? You want to drag two full grown males along with you? You won't get far with me still hanging on. At least I can buy you some time." His voice was determined as he spoke up and narrowed his eyes staring at the self-satisfied grin on Ingelozi's face. "Go! It won't take long before they'll be here."

Tears reached Nala's eyes. Meethu was the last member of her family that wasn't a blood relative with Simba as well. Her mother was dead, her father died even before she was born. Her step-father had passed away and she was now facing the last moments she would ever be together with her brother as well. As gently and passionate as she could , she rubbed her head against Meethu's closing her eyes and wetting his fur with her tears. "Umoja ni nguvu, utengano ni udhaifu!" She cried into his fur with him rubbing his cheek against the back of her neck.

"Don't cry Nala. This is something I owe you! Meethu said gently as he referenced back when the hyena clan tried to kill him and his sister and his mother jumped in to defend him. "Kipya kinyemi, kigawa kionda!" Meethu answered as he battled himself back onto his paws before Nala, Simba and Kovu moved their bodies towards a tree line close by.

"No you don't!" It came from Ingelozi as he tried to run after them but received a kick from the cream furred male with his injured right hind leg knocking him out at once. Meethu could have defeated the king of the north lands with ease by now. But he had no time as three males appeared behind him and growled angrily.

Meethu growled back without giving the attackers the slightest clue what just happened and what the real intentions of his behavior were. "Alright gentlemen, let's get going!" With those words, the injured pridelander rushed forward and engaged every one of them knowing that this was going to be the end.

* * *

If she could have, Nala would have dropped to the ground crying, yelling and shouting out all the pain she was feeling in that moment. Yet she couldn't. She may have not been a queen anymore, but she still was responsible for the well beings of her pride. And that included the well being of her mate. She and Simba were still in the pride lands and that meant that they were still in danger being caught by the northlanders running around the kingdom.

Once again, the cream female supported the golden male with her shoulder while Kovu marched around them surveying the area around the duo with great caution and alert. For most of the time, Simba led the way knowing very well where he was going. All three lions marched through a small forest that was placed in the eastern area of the kingdom. Just a few moments later, they got out of the forest and stared at the area they were about to enter. Both Kovu and Nala were glancing around with a slight doubt in their minds seeing what the escape route of them was going to be.

"Are you sure about this?" Nala asked the golden male at their side narrowing her eyebrows.

Simba turned his head around and gave her a doubting yet knowing glare. "No, but this is the only place that I know we can go and are going to be safe." Both turned around and finally faced the dark brown male that was accompanying the royal couple for the whole way. "Kovu!" Simba called and his voice forced Vitani's brother to shake around and stare at the former king and queen with an empty glare. His green eyes had turned slightly red and indicated that he had been also close to crying.

The young male slowly directed his head to the ground giving both of them a look of regret and guilt. "I-I… I failed!" He said out of the sudden and Nala as well as Simba understood what he meant.

Short after, Kovu felt a paw on his shoulder to turn around and glare into the aqua eyes of his mother in law. She tried to smile but even she could not deny the pain in her heart considering the losses she had sustained over the last hours. "You didn't fail, nobody could have been prepared for what Ingelozi was about to tell you." Though he nodded slowly, he still felt remorse that he in a way allowed the northlander king to get a grasp on the former queen's brother. "Listen, Simba and I are going to be fine, you go back and help my daughter. They all are going to need you, with what happened today… more than ever."

Though, he still felt guilty and had a trouble to focus. He nodded and bowed to both older lions moving back into the pride lands and back to the pride that was going to face the most difficult times they had ever seen. Nala for her part sighed heavy as she moved back to the side of Simba with both of them staring down towards the desert they were about to cross. As if the irony wasn't strong enough. For the second time in his life, the golden furred lion had to leave his home towards this sheer endless sandy landscape.

* * *

**Author's note: **At the end, I'm going to give you the translations of the two sayings which Meethu and Nala said to each other.

Umoja ni nguvu, utengano ni udhaifu! = United we are strong. Divided, we are weak.

Kipya kinyemi, kigawa kionda! = A new thing is good, even if it is an injury (wound)


	12. Aftermath

**Starzinmyeyez: **Yeah I know that problem. I had myself some really weird choices with Microsoft Auto-correct. For example, I wanted to write ochre and Word gave ogre. (Little side note, Koch means Chef (cook) in German)

**LionKingFactsGuy2: **Kopa for now is still living in his own world far away from the struggles for the thrones of the north lands and the pride lands.

**Tanabi: **Whoa! Remind me to never ever get on your bad side

* * *

Chapter 12: Aftermath

Inhloli and Ikhaya still helped the dizzy northlander king back to his paws. He had no idea what happened after that cream male had intervened. He just had a strange blackness overcoming him, and then he suddenly found himself staring up at his mate and some of his consultants and followers. "My king!" Umnikozi said staring at the brown male who was looking around and searching for the fleeing king and queen.

"Where? Where is Simba?" He simply asked with an angry voice still being a bit weak on his legs. But the lions surrounding him just shook their heads. He should have known what answer was coming from his consultants as he glared around once again. The growls of fighting lions could still be heard in the distance and Ingelozi right away shook himself moving forth to walk back to the fighting lions. "We have to go after them! I want the head of this king!" The king of the north lands grunted giving all of his subjects a narrowed down glare.

But short after he said those words, he sank slightly to the ground as his weak legs gave away a bit underneath him. "I'm sorry my king." Ikhaya said shortly urging him to calm down and leaned her paw against him to support Ingelozi. "But there is no way for us to find them now. You are weakened and the pridelanders are proving themselves to be most worthy enemies." She added and right away, the two royals locked their eyes on each other. "We have to regroup and finish our plans another day."

At once, the king was furious and stormed up standing tall on his paws swinging his head around and almost staring to yell at the ones beside him. "What nonsense are you talking? We are winning; I didn't come all this way down to stop in the middle of our glorious victory." He yelled furious with his eyes turning red with anger.

"She's right Ingelozi!" They heard another voice and spotted Itshe walking over to them.

The king's eyes narrowed down as he observed his most important subject walking towards them. Unlike all the other lions present, the former pridelander completely lacked any traces of a fight and didn't even have his fur covered in dirt like anybody else had. It was something that Ingelozi realized at once as he faced the ground again. The beige male bowed and began to make his point a bit clear what he meant.

"This battle is causing us more than it is worth right now. The pridelanders are irritated, I would say even a bit demoralized with their king on the run and their homeland attacked. If we leave them to be for a few days and they realize that they can't force us out of their home. Victory will only be a short walk away." He said with a slight smirk and could tell right away that the king had at least a little spark of sympathy for that idea.

He shortly eyed the Itshe before staring back in the blue eyes of his mat before he said frustrated and in defeat. "Very well… we regroup west from pride rock and recover. Call the pride back." He said and gave Umnikozi a short nod before the male walked away from the group. Ingelozi faced Itshe and Inhloli before continuing. "Find Simba, the queen, the two young cubs and bring them to me. I want to decapitate them myself." He said and, supported by Ikhaya, walked away from the scene.

* * *

A loud and air filling roar hailed through the pride lands and made all the lions inhabiting it stop their fights and raise their heads towards the sky to listen. It took only a few seconds before the darker furred northlanders marched began moving back and leaving the pridelanders lying on the battlefields and stare at them with shock and surprise.

Tama was about to hammer both her claws into the head of a female lioness as the northlander threw some dust into her face and charged off into the distance. It took the tarnish/orange lioness a while before she could open her eyes again. But as she looked up, all the northlanders were distancing themselves from Tama and her pride members. Quickly, she stared around to see what was going on and which ones of her family and friends were still standing.

Just a few meters away, Tojo had just landed face first into a waterhole with as he felt a paw pressing him down into the water. But only for the paw to remove itself from his head and allowing the ochre male to pull his head back up and catch some breath. He switched his head around and to see the foreign attackers vanishing and leaving the pridelanders alone. He made eye contact with Malka as both shrugged their shoulders and he said. "Did I miss something?"

Slowly, the pridelanders got back to their paws and stared after them with Tama and Malka now standing in front of the rest. They were all breathing heavily and were about to relax when Naima called out from the back. "Well! "She started with a light voice. "We actually managed to drive them away." She said with a happy smirk right before Tama turned around angrily.

"We did NOTHING!" She yelled and all the lionesses shook together in the back. "We got lucky… they actually had better things to do than turn us into piles." The tarnish/orange female added as she was joined in a circle by Malka, Sabini and Tojo. "If it wouldn't have been for that lion to call them back, we would have lost. We better get Zazu and Kicho to find out where the others are." She began to walk away from the scene with her mate following close by. "But first we have to find out how many of us are injured." All the time, she had her head directed to the ground.

But that was about to change when she glared up and saw the three figures standing in front of the pride with sad eyes. Their eyes locked on Mbio standing on the right as he carried a cream furred male on his back. He slowly dropped him onto the ground and revealed the lifeless figure of the queen's brother. All color would have faded the faces of Sabini and Nafsi as they saw their mate and son in law. "No!" Escaped Sabini's muzzle and she slowly moved forward accompanied by her mother before she reached her son and pulled him into a tight hug.

In the back, Tojo and Malka had their faces turned away from their friend as they closed their eyes and suppressed their tears. Not only did they lose Subira during this day, but now they lost one of their most skilled fighters. Their gazes then fell on the princess Kiara now being in the middle of the scene. Like Mbio and Kivuli, she was cut and bruised with one being bad in particular over her right eye. Kiara was even limping a bit observing the pride that stood around her.

"I doubt that we're gonna have much time before they come back and try to finish us. I hope that…" Yet she didn't get far as she could see Kovu running towards them from the distance. The acting queen and king stormed towards each other rubbing their heads together the moment they reached out to each other. Without a second being wasted, the dark brown male stared over to where the cream male lied lifeless on the ground.

Before he could walk up to the Sabini and Mbio, Meethu's son turned around and faced the pride. His eyes were full of panic as he glared around with them being wide open. "What happened?" He asked hectically While he searched for anyone that might have an answer for him.

Kovu sighed as he recalled how Meethu gave his life to save Nala and Simba. "I can tell you." He finally spoke out and caused everyone in the pride to stare at the dark brown male. "He… he gave his life to make sure that Simba and Nala could get away." Kovu continued before he exhaled deeply. He could see Mbio staring at him literally asking him. _Weren't you supposed to…?_ Before anyone could ask, he answered himself. "It… it was… it was my fault!" Kovu finally admitted and the rest of the pride present gasped.

"I was there to protect them when king Ingelozi appeared and attacked us." The more he talked, the heavier and uncomfortable got his voice. "I had finally managed to bring him down when I hesitated. It gave him enough time to surprise us and injure Meethu so that he couldn't walk anymore." Mumbling was coming from the pride while a few of the others threw some confused and upset glares to Zira's son. "He decided to stay behind and hold the others off so that they couldn't follow us."

Not far away from him, he found Kivuli and Naima jerking their heads up as the tarnish male walked over to Kovu. The acting king watched Mbio turning away from him and walking away from the scene. But Kovu had no time to say anything as he found himself face to face with an angry looking Kivuli. "So what you're saying is… that you had the chance to end this war from the get-go… and you blew it." Malka and Tama jerked their heads up as they heard their son speaking out to Kiara's mate.

"If I could have I would…"

"But you didn't!" Kivuli snapped once more. "And now our king and queen are on the run, my sister is out there hiding with her mate while they tried to hide your cubs from these lions!" Kivuli was beyond angry, he was furious. "What an _irony!_ The highly trained killing machine from the outlands had the chance to do what he was trained to, and. IT. DIDN'T!" He didn't even try to hide his hatred for the other male.

"Kivuli!" Malka shouted with a stern voice trying to knock some sense into him.

But he wasn't even finished with his sentence as he heard another female calling out. "You know what? He's right!" Naima called out to him before Tojo stepped beside his pale orange male and shouted out her name. But the pale caramel female didn't stop. "And here we thought we could trust you!"

What she didn't count on was the tan female Vitani who right away walked beside her brother. "You are in no position to question Kovu's loyalty. We have proven our value for this pride more than enough." She answered just as angry as Kivuli was moments ago. "Don't forget that he is your king since Simba and Nala are gone and Kiara is his mate."

Once again, Naima was unable to control herself before she continued. "He is not my king, we don't have a king!" The two females were now nose to nose growling viciously as Kivuli continued to speak.

"You were supposed to watch them and defend our pride. Why in the great kings' name DIDN'T YOU KILL HIM WHEN YOU HAD THE CHANCE?"

"BECAUSE HE IS MY FATHER!"

Everybody went dead silent as they all locked their eyes on Kovu and Vitani who made eye contact themselves. The tan female had her electric blue eyes opened as wide as they never had been while standing around almost feeling the ground underneath her vanishing. What both of them were not prepared for was the laughter of Naima suddenly reaching their ears.

"Now this is priceless! Not only do we have no king. But we also have a northlander in our midst. How much convincing did he have to do to make you turn to the other side!"

_ROOOAAAAARRRR!_

They all turned around and found Malka giving the loudest and mightiest roar he had to offer. They all stopped as the pale orange male alongside his friend Tojo standing up and calling everyone to around to order. "Look at us, we just got attacked by another pride and we start arguing while accusing each other. For now, we have to make sure who is injured and who is healthy. Those punks will be back… and we have to be ready."

As quickly as possible, Vitani walked over to Kovu and Kiara giving her brother an urging glare. Kivuli passed the trio while throwing a hateful glare at the dark brown male. Naima for her part wanted to say something as she felt a paw reaching her shoulder and made her turn around. She stared directly into the direction of her father.

His expression was stern and even despising. "We need to talk young lady." With that, he quickly led her away where Niyani was waiting with the same expression of disappointment and anger in her face.

Malka turned around before Tama herself brought her head closer to her mate's as she spoke out. "Malka! We have to find my mother." She said and could already see that the pale orange lion throwing her a sad glare. With all the years, she had known Malka, Tama didn't have to think twice in order to read what he was telling her with his eyes.

Back with Kovu and Kiara, the dark brown male had to catch up on the events of their own. He was about to say something as Kiara licked him on the cheek. Her voice turned into a whisper as she spoke out to him. "Let's take a walk. I think you need one:" She said as she and Vitani accompanied the male down to a waterhole where Kiara dove her head right into washing some of the blood off from it.

Kovu frowned but held himself together as he talked out the golden/cream acting queen. "Your parents are alright, I hope at least." He replied with a defeated voice seeing how the acting queen got back up and nodded her head in response.

"Strangely my parents are the not the ones I'm worried about." She said and faced her mate. "Shani and Chaka are out there away from us. I bet that these lions are searching for them. We have to find them!" The cream/golden lioness said and brought her head under his chin to seek comfort. She stared up towards the pride as she recalled what had happened earlier. "But then again, we have to bring our pride back together."

* * *

Simba and Nala had been walking for hours underneath the merciless sun that stood high in the in the sky above the desert. Neither one of them spoke a word for hours as both were too tired both mentally and physical to talk. Simba couldn't get past the idea of him being somehow responsible for the death of Meethu as well. Maybe it wouldn't have come this far if he would have decided to speak to Rafiki way earlier. He stared over to the cream female that kept walking beside him ever since they left the pride lands.

Back with her pride, Nala couldn't allow herself to cry or show how devastated she truly was. But know that she had time to keep things sinking into her mind, she felt even more defeated than her mate probably felt. The former queen had her head directed to the ground with her ears dropped and her eyes half closed. She was less walking than dragging her body along as her paws kept moving over the hot sand.

Seeing as how she was not even willing to talk to him, Simba went back into just trotting by her side until they could see an oasis in the distance which seemed to be all too familiar. Even though it wasn't that far, getting over there seemed to take forever. The golden furred male didn't even wait for a short second before he dropped underneath a tree heavy breathing and lying down on his side.

"I think it's best if we stay here for the rest of the day. I'm sure they're not following us anymore. We start to continue during the night." Nala said as she dropped down beside Simba and sat with her back turned towards him and staring out of the oasis into the desert and the hot sun in the sky.

With her ears dropping even more, she inhaled shortly and started singing a tune she once taught Kiara. _"Oh mta ka mama wam. Oh mfo wethu. Ndi yak u khumbula mna."_ Simba knew this tune all too well has he heard it for numerous times before. However this time, he felt it even more heartbreaking than ever before. Yet he continued to listen as his mate continued. _"Oh mta ka mama wam. Oh mfu wethu. Ndi yak u khalela mna."_

"Motswelle waka!" It was then that Simba responded to her and joined in on her song. "Ngwana mne. Ndiyani khumbula. La la kahle!" He got right to his feet and dragged over to her and before rubbing his head against the back of her head. "I'm so sorry…" he started to whisper as Nala once away gave in into her tears. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

At first, the cream furred lioness hesitated to be embraced by the golden furred one. But she stopped short after and she just nuzzled him as gently as possible. "I know Simba… I know." For a whole minute, the two stood still in their pose before Nala began to cry once again softly. Simba brought his head back up and stared down into her aqua eyes putting on a caring and sympathetic glance.

Yet he didn't have to ask her what was going on as she already started to call out to him. "Simba!" She started with a panicked glare before she buried her face in his shoulder. "I'm so worried about Kiara and the others." She added quickly while the golden furred male kept staring down on her and returned her cuddling movements.

"I know; I see it the same way as you. But we will return in the future. I'm not going to let someone else invading my kingdom and getting away with it." Something inside him brought the old fighting nature of the former king and he felt a sudden need to do something for his family and his pride back in his home. But he stopped once he felt Nala removing and walking over to a small pond where she once gain ducked her head inside to cool her head off again.

The two royal's eyes met each other and she gave him a warm smile, weak but gentle. She quickly went over to him again and the two embraced each other again. "I know that this will be hard for you but…" She stopped and her face was close to tears once again. "But don't leave me anytime soon."

"Don't worry Nala, I'm not going anywhere."

* * *

Far away from the pride lands, the situation for another pair of pridelanders had quite the same problem in which Simba and Nala were currently in. In the outskirts of the north lands, the group containing of Kula, Chumvi, Ithunzi and the former princess Ubuvila tried their best to hide from the group of lions that were no doubt still searching for them. Ever since Ingelozi and Itshe had taken over the kingdom and overthrown Ingozi and their father, their life had become a constant play of cat and mouse. They to be constantly on the move to get avoid getting caught by Ubuvila's uncle's followers.

But that was a task that had mostly come over to the brown male Ithunzi. With the group of north- and pridelanders finally getting at least some sort of rest, the full impact of Ubuvila getting caught betrayed by her mother and her father murdered had come back to the young adult female. When she was not planning with Itshe's son of how to continue with their plans, she was mostly resting under or beneath a tree where she sobbed to herself. Even Kula was unable to give the princess some words of comfort.

The sky was covered with dark clouds and various lightning's struck in the distance. Once again, Ubuvila had cowered down underneath a tree as she could hear the first drops of rain colliding with the leaves beyond. She rested her head on her front legs staring emotionless into the kingdom in front of her. "Why?" She asked out loud to herself not really addressing anybody.

"What do you mean?" A feminine voice said and the princess glared over as Kula came walking over to her. The caramel female shook her body trying to shake the rainy water off from her fur, yet it didn't really work as the water coming from above.

At first, the brown younger lioness wanted to turn her head away. But right away, she knew that there was no point in collecting all her pains and worries inside her without anybody she could talk to. She exhaled slowly before she answered the older lioness. "Why? Why did my mother go along with my uncle's plans? Father loved her since he was adolescent. How could she betray him like this?"

All what happened in their new home reminded Kula strongly of what happened back in her old home. In a certain way, the brown female in front of her was going through the same which Simba must have been through. She thought carefully about what to say to the younger female making sure to give her at least some kind of comfort. "There are a lot of things that could corrupt the mind of a lion Vila!" She called by her nickname which Kichwa used most of the times. The northlanders were not so much into not calling persons by their real names, but Ubuvila didn't mind.

"I have witnesses a lot of minds being spoiled by various things. And in a certain way, I can understand what you are feeling." She glared down as the former princess showed Kula her desperate and sad eyes. "But you have to understand that we are here for you. It always helps when you have family that can help you and teach you how to cope with tragedy."

It was a warm and comforting smile which the pridelander female threw at the younger northlander and Ubuvila somehow could find that strength inside her which brought her out of their mess a few days ago. Slowly, she gathered her thoughts and observed her surroundings. Though she felt alone with no family member left she could trust, the young female realized. _This is my family now. Kula, Chumvi, Kichwa, Moyo… _"I should be with them!" She then called out and forced the caramel lioness to shake back her head. "I should be with Kichwa and the others. It's my family that's causing this. I should be the one to stop them."

The sudden rush of anger that came over the young lioness surprised Kula. Ubuvila always seemed to be contained and calm, yet the voice she spoke with was filled with hate and regret. At once, the northlander shifted her body ready to go but immediately let her ears drop and stare down onto the ground. "Instead I am hiding in my own home far away from Kichwa or my dead father."

"As soon as Ingelozi, Itshe and your mother are defeated, we will help you regain your kingdom. I guess that's the least we can do since you've been helping us for so long."

Both lionesses' eyes met and even if she wasn't in the odd, Ubuvila started to smile a little. Yet with her thoughts, she was far away. _Please be careful Kichwa!_

_[Many miles away in the outlands]_

"Great kings what a barren and dead wasteland!" Akili shouted out as she kicked the skull of a dead gazelle over the ground. She, her brother and Moyo had been walking for days trying to make their way through the dead land that lied just between the pride lands and the north lands. Since the border was heavily guarded. The trip through this area was the best way to get to pride rock without getting caught. Yet it was also much longer than the direct route.

The sun stood high above in the sky as the air was filled with thin dust and a strange dizziness surrounding the siblings. Moyo shoved a twig to the side before lying down and resting her head on her front paws. "My paws are killing me. I always wondered why neither one of the northlanders came close to the borders of this landscape. Yet seeing how dreary this place is, I finally understand."

Kichwa scratched his mane as he shook some dust out of his hair before he stared up into the sky again. "We better wait for the night to come. It's much nicer to travel when it's colder, plus it is easier to navigate with the stars in order to find the quickest way." He added and looked back to his sisters. Immediately, his eyes fell on Moyo who was already fast asleep and he could even bring his face to a smirk.

"I hate leaving mom and dad behind with the whole kingdom out there to hunt them down." At once, the dark brown male turned around finding Akili having her face directed upwards as well. Their gazes met and Kichwa walked over to her settling down beside her.

There was a slight breeze going through the air but wasn't really that refreshing since a lot of dust came along with it and settled itself in the faces of the young adults. The idea of leaving their parents was something that bucked Kichwa just like it did with his family and his friends. "They're in good paws. Ubuvila and Ithunzi know the kingdom better than any one of us." He answered and immediately caught his sister to let her ears drop down again. He quickly nudged her with his paw before he gave her an encouraging smile.

Akili returned it but couldn't resist keeping a doubting and worried expression. "Can you imagine how Ubuvila and Ithunzi must feel with their family basically declaring them public enemies?" The young caramel female added thinking about her boyfriend and her possible sister in law.

Of course, Kichwa could imagine. But with all the things going on, he was barely able to think back to the brown furred princess. Right now, his first priority was to get him and his sisters out of the outlands into the pride lands and help king Simba. "You better get some rest too. We're going to need any kind of strength by tomorrow."

"What about you?" The female asked again but could see her brother shifting onto his back and staring towards the sky.

"I take the first watch. I need some time to think something through." Akili didn't argue with what Kichwa said and shifted around herself so that she laid in a comfortable position. The last thing she did with her eyes was glare at the dark brown female with a smile before she drifted away into sleep.

Kichwa on the other hand felt a sudden feeling coming over him. _If we do help the pridelanders and defeat Ingelozi, Ubuvila will become queen. And if I'm going to be her mate in the future… than that would make me… _His eyes widened at once as he felt a sudden weight on his heart. He would never think of himself as kingly, though when he thought about it, he should have seen it coming once he got close enough with the princess. But the strangest thing to come was that… he liked the idea and began to smile.

_Me… a king? Why not!_

* * *

It had been so many days since they started their coup and took over the control of their kingdom before invading the pride lands. And ever since that day, Itshe started to notice that Ingelozi was somehow changing. He could feel that the brown furred king was getting tensed, restless and even a bit scary. Of course the beige lion was not afraid of his ally, but he felt a certain tendency of losing it in the king.

"My king!" He said with a bow as he approached the brown male form behind as the king sat on a hill watching the sunset in the distance. He and his pride had settled down on a hilly landscape just in front of a forest providing them with well enough cover. "I can report that we have almost to none casualties to report." He said with a sight tone of challenging which Ingelozi didn't really catch and kept staring. "I may only be a short moment before we can call full victory.

Yet the brown lion didn't respond at once. "Did you find Simba and the queen?" He asked flatly with a silent and slow voice. He didn't hide the fact that he was in no way satisfied with the situation and how it developed.

Itshe tilted his head slightly to the side before he remarked. "NO! His friends bought them enough time to have them vanish from our grasps."

"What about the cubs that belong to the princess?"

This time, the beige male lion glanced up as he stared glared around the kingdom. "They have been brought out of our reach way before we got here. But it is only a matter of time."

A loud growl escaped the northlander king and the former pridelander shook back a little. Within an instant, he turned around and had his teeth bared stepping a few steps closer. "I need those cubs. If we want to have this war stopped without so many losses of our lions, we have to bring the pridelanders into a situation where we can make them surrender the kingdom to us." He was getting even angrier and seemed to go into a rush of blood. "So you let a sick an helpless lions and his _lioness_ escape although you had him right in your grasp. Our best trackers are unable to find two _cubs."_

In the back, the queen kept moving up to them and watched with interest as the two males kept arguing with each other with Ingelozi continuing on. "And by the way… where have you been during the battle? I didn't see you fighting alongside any of our members." He was about to pounce on the beige on as the light brown female walked in and stepped between them.

"I think we should call this off and return to our duties in the morning:" She went in and shoved Ingelozi away from Itshe.

But the king didn't leave without giving the beige one a warning glare as he spoke out. "As soon as we are recovered, we march for pride rock. And this time… I will make sure that you are going to be in the front line." With a mocking smile, he continued following his mate and calling out to the rest of the pride. "Let that be a warning to everyone! If anyone dares to cross me, I decapitate you myself."

As he watched the two leave, he growled inside and now turned his gaze towards the sun in the distance. _Crossing you?! My whole life, I've been crossing lions up and down the north lands. And I warn you, my resources are way wider and creative than you can think of. _

* * *

For the rest of the day, Kovu was restless and disturbed. The felling of guilt had come over him strong ever since the argument back with the pride. And even though the older males and females did not approve the word Naima and Kivuli used, but even that didn't make the dark brown male feel any better. And then there was the fact that he had to sort things out with Vitani and the fact that he came across the lion claiming that he was their father.

"_How is she?" The tan female asked as Kovu exited the den their pride slept inside and sat down in front of her. After the stress of the last hours, the golden/cream lioness dropped inside of the den unsure and completely confused about what to do with them being invaded._

_The dark brown male took a short look back before he gazed back at his sister. "She's… pretty roughed up. No one can blame her. I feel the same." He answered as he sighed a few times. And though he had a lot more to say, he stopped and just kept exchanging glares with his sister._

_Both lions looked away from each other before locking their eyes on the other and doing the same thing all over again. Finally, Vitani had enough and started to speak out. "So… uhm… about what that northlander told you…" She started and felt a strange uncomfortable feeling conquering her mind. Vitani could see the same expression on her brother before she started again. "Is he really…"_

"_I don't know!" Kovu interrupted her shaking his head slowly without facing the female. He didn't know himself if that was something that he could be certain of. The fact that he didn't know who his father was and the fact that his mother never told anything about him did not make the story of Ingelozi more plausible. "It doesn't sound like mom would bond herself with another male. You know how she always talked about how great Scar was and how she desired him to still be alive. Can you imagine her giving her loyalty away from him?"_

_Vitani didn't answer right away. She just thought for a while as she pressed her lips together and frowned. "Not really, but how did it feel… being around him?"_

_The dark brown male recalled the events and the words the northlander had use back then. "It was… strange. He seemed to know a lot about our mother and her relationship with Scar. Not to mention that he and I looked really the same." The more the two kept talking about the encounter of Kovu with Ingelozi, the more Vitani started to believe that what the foreign king was saying was true._

_She stared into the sky distance as if she expected him to pop out in the grass any minute. "Imagine; the first sign we ever get from our father is him invading and trying to destroy our newfound home. We really do have a messed up family." She said with her typical sarcastic tone before she felt Kovu leaning his head against hers._

_It wasn't often that the two shared this kind of cozy moments together, seeing their education and how they grew up. But if their father was really out there to kill them, than they would need this type of gestures more often in the future._

Still being very slow in his tracks, the acting king approached the two mourning lions that lied in the distance still having tears in their eyes. His eyes especially felt on Mbio and how he just walked away from the scene earlier. Kovu didn't know if it was the right thing to do but he figured that it might be best to sort things out from the beginning to see if this mood against him would last.

He cleared his throat before he opened his muzzle to speak. "Ahem… Mbio, Sabini! Can I talk to you for a moment?" He asked and forced the two other ones to tilt their head up at once before their gazes set on the dark brown male approaching them. Sabini glanced shortly towards her son before she sent a small nod towards Zira's son.

After the pale golden female gave Kovu the signal, he inhaled deeply and sat down in front of the broken family. "I… I know that you are upset. And I can't tell you how sorry I feel about what happened to Meethu. And I swear if there would have been anything that I could have ch…"

"Kovu! Stop stop stop!" Mbio went in with a heavy and sad voice without the tone of anger and decline. "You don't have to apologize. I'm not mad at you!" He added and Kovu felt the slightest bit of relief reaching his body. Yet he tried to not show it on the outside since he wanted to be as friendly and polite as possible. But then again, Mbio started to continue. "I think; if I would have been in that situation. I would have reacted the same way as you did."

Another huge stone dropped from the dark brown male's heart and he sighed again in relief. "So… so you don't think the same way which Naima and Kivuli think?" Kovu asked anyway not quite believing and still feeling remorse.

But Mbio just shook his head a little bit amused by what Kiara's mate asked. "Kovu! Kovu Kovu Kovu!" Even though, the pale golden male wasn't in the mood to joke right now, he couldn't pretend himself from throwing his right front leg over friend's shoulder in a playful way. "After all we've been through, after all what you've been through, don't you think we have reached a point where we can put the past behind us?" He asked but didn't wait for the dark brown one to repeat. But that was when Mbio went into his serious tone again as he stared over at his mother. "We have other things to worry about than our own divide."

In that moment, Sabini got up and walked over to the acting king and gave him a supporting glare. "Don't let the talk of some of us bring you down from your path, we need both you and Kiara if we want to solve this mess. And when the time is right, we will follow you." She said and Kovu as much relieved as he did moments ago.

Together, the trio stared into the sunset in the distance with their biggest task being right ahead of them.

* * *

**Author's note and Trivia: **I tried to have a little influence from "Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan" into the scene with the pride reacting to the northlanders falling back. It was supposed to be a reference to the scene after the first attack from Khan where Scotty brings the red shirt of the movie onto the bridge.

And of course the sing called "Lala" by Lebo M. I personally thought it was a nice touch to make that a recurring theme in the story. It really fits and is a beautiful song.

And yes, I know I wrote myself into a corner with Kichwa, Moyo and Akili tumbling clueless through the outlands situation. But I already added a scene later one where this will be made a bit more plausible. Besides, the payoff will be worth it.


	13. Under siege and refuge

Alright! Here we are again.

**Reldor: **To say with the words of senator Palpatine. "Good, _gooood!_ Now young Skywalker, give in to your anger become a member of the dark side." No seriously! The way how Itshe constantly get's around being held responsible for his action was something I saw in a cartoon years, ago. The bad guy in that was always a bit weak compared to the heroes but could still manage to sneak away. And it is supposed to become really frustrating. But just hang in there and you'll see.

**Tanabi: **Yes they will… parts of them! I don't like them either. Although, their scenes are quite fun to write.

**LionKingFactsGuy2: **Maybe, but it will take a while before the situation gets better. For now you have to be patient. I took a look at the documentary. And it was alright, not what I prefer, but alright. That Video made me chuckle a few times.

**Starzinmyeyez: **Thanks! It was important to set this up since the rest of the story around the pridelanders is built on this tension.

So, and since we have covered the invasion for now, let's get our lost prince back into the game.

* * *

Chapter 13: under siege and refuge

Far away from all the events surrounding the pride lands and its inhabitants, another lion who could call himself a member of the royal family had different yet just a dangerous problems himself.

"AARGH!" A scream escaped Mwehu's muzzle as he sailed straight through the air before colliding onto the ground and sliding straight into a bush. With loud curses, he vanished and left his two friends now standing on their own.

"Somehow, I get the feeling that we are way in over our heads this time." Kopa remarked as he faced his yellow furred, black spotted leopard friend Konde with the corner of his eye. A loud noise came from in front of them and both felines jerked their heads up to look at what was approaching them. "TO THE SIDE!" The golden furred lion shouted as he jumped to the right with Konde jumping to the left. They were just fast enough to avoid getting hammered by the tusks of a giant elephant charging for them.

It was early in the morning and the sun was not all that high in the sky as the trio of predators came across this angry male and immediately had gotten into trouble. The four animals found themselves in a clearing with a rocky wall on one side and a small slope on another. The place was big enough so that the elephant could play out his advantages in height.

Konde slid on his paws over the ground and at once searched for a tree where he could climb onto. On the ground, he was in no position to do anything. While Kopa was busy avoiding the swing s of the grey animal's tusks, he quickly found a tree and started climbing. He was now standing on a branch high enough to jump onto the elephants and winked over to the former prince to lure the male towards him. And that was just what the leopard waited for. With a roar he jumped off and landed on the elephants back ramming his teeth into its skin.

Yet the male elephant didn't even began to show some pain as he got on his back feet of course feeling the male feline on him. But Konde ad his teeth sank in so deep that he didn't let go at once. Kopa for his part went forth and tried to sink his claws into him just as well as his frined did. But he had to be careful as the elephant tried to stomp the golden furred lion with its front legs forcing Kopa to jump back immediately.

Finally, the giant grey animal had enough and swung its nuzzle backwards circling it around the yellow furred animal on his back. He quickly squeezed it close and Konde had to let go of as he gasped out in pain. The elephant quickly swung him forth and threw the leopard towards another tree nearby. The feline collided hard with a branch but managed to hold on with his claws as he sank together on it.

Kopa was the last one left as he saw his chances of winning equaling zero. He quickly started running until he hid behind a giant bolder being out of sight of the elephant.

"Let that be a lesson for you! Stay away from my territory." He warned them before calling out with his nuzzle and walking away with the three predators lying defeated and beat up in the clearing.

The first one to come back out on the scene was Kopa as he glanced after the giant animal that had just whipped their tails. _Thank the great kings! _He thought as he gathered his thoughts and used a small puddle on the ground to observe his face. For someone getting beat moments ago, he looked really good. Of course he had a few cuts and bruises, but it wasn't the first time he had to fight and observe the results later on. Up ahead, Konde moved again as he got his senses back on top of the tree branch. But all he did for now was relaxing and let his legs hang down in the air.

"Is he gone?" A masculine voice form behind a bush sounding really annoyed and even a bit feared that he would receive the answer _no_.

The golden prince glanced over his shoulder at the demoralized Mwehu still lying behind the brushwood. "Yes, he's marching off to somewhere else." He answered quickly with a sigh and relief literally jumping out of his face.

Mwehu began to appear in front of the bush. "OH thank the devil!" He added and revealed his form to the other two. He himself looked rather okay too. That was except for the hole that was set on his right shoulder.

All three of them locked their eyes on each other with Konde and Kopa quickly focusing on the shoulder of the pale cream maneless lion. The leopard observed it carefully before he started to ask. "Did he…" He started but stopped as he saw the nodding motion of Mwehu's head.

"Jepp, impaled right from the beginning." He quickly answered and walked over to the place underneath the branch which the leopard was lying on top of. Kopa walked over to him offering him some sort of support but he right away received a growl from the older male. "I don't need your help!" he snapped angrily as he brought his body into the position that was hurting the least. "I have had worse injuries in the back." He added and started licking his wound.

Kopa glanced up but received only a shook of Konde's head. It was the kind of gesture that said… _he is in some of his moods again. Just leave him be for now._ The golden furred lion began staring into the distance and realized that it was not far away from the big river that was going right through the jungle. "Well if you don't need, I'll be over there cleaning my wounds." He got no answer from the other two and simply started moving into the distance.

In his back, he could still here the arguments of his two friends starting over again. "Whose idea was it anyway to cross fat Albert's territory in the first place?" He heard Mwehu asking before Konde responded at once.

"Yours!"

The golden furred lost prince chuckled shortly as he stepped through the brush and found himself staring at the giant looking Zuberi River. He had not been often to this place. It reminded him to much of how he ended up here. But that was something that was long gone, he was lucky with the life he had here. He was free independent, and nobody wanted to kill him. _Well… at least not for the sake of me being a prince, but because they want to survive as well as I do. _

He was so deep sunken in thoughts as he took a sip from the refreshing water that he didn't realize the figure moving to his right. The creature was dragging itself; no it wasn't that much dragging as crawling towards the bank of the river finally being happy to reach solid ground again. It tried to lie down but landed directly on a sharp rock which made it gasp out in pain and gain the attention of the male lion nearby.

Kopa quickly turned his head to the side and found the figure lying not far away from him. At once he realized that it was a lioness. _What the…? _ He asked finding it strange how many lionesses and lions could land in the river and float down into this jungle. He locked his eyes on her even stronger right away found something really familiar about her.

And then it clicked. _If she's floating down Zuberi River, then she must be from…_ Without thinking twice, he moved and came to a halt right beside the lioness. And his eyes widened even more in shock. _Auntie Subira! _He gasped and brought his head down to nudge her with his nose. The pale orange lionesses face was batted and bruised, and that was not because of the sharp rocks that lied onto the ground of the rivers. He knew those marks to well since he had some of those himself. It were the marks of lions claws. "Subira!?" He said gently to her trying to reach out to her.

Yet it worked as Tama's mother opened her eyes slowly. She stared up weakly into the eyes of the long lost prince as she tried to get a grip at who was in front of her. "S-Simba!" She gasped not believing it herself, but what other explanation could there be for this male lions like her king in some weird place. Wherever she was.

"Not quite! What happened?" Kopa answered and felt the lioness at his paws losing up again. "Auntie Subira stay with me, it's me. It's me… Kopa!" He finally said hoping that that would make the older female snap out of her trance.

Again, it worked really well as she was getting back to her senses right away at once. "Wh-what? But… but?" She stared right into the aqua of the young lion that everyone believed was dead. And the way how she saw his worried and anxious eyes, she immediately knew that the golden lion holding on to her was indeed Simba's son. "But y…" She started but couldn't continue until she breathed heavy and moved her weak body a few inches. "But you were dead!?"

A tear came tripping down the king's face; he could tell that Tama's mother was dying. But how on earth did she end up here? "It's a long story. What happened?"

Again, Subira gasped in pain before staring back at the young adult. "An invasion, they came without a warning from the north. Your father…" She started but faded of as she let her head rest for a moment on the ground.

_Invasion! Oh no… mom dad! Dad! What is with him? Is he…? _Even though he knew that this was in no way healthy for the lioness at his side, he grabbed her head and brought it back up again. "Subira, I know that you are tired. And I will get you help as quickly as I can, I know someone who's really good at this. Just, hang in and tell about my dad." He said urging but tried to be as gentle as possible. His whole life, t least the one that he had right now, was about to change.

The lioness stared and opened her muzzle to speak with a weak voice. "I don't know, I send Malka and Tojo to warn him… I hope he's still strong enough." She answered but couldn't go on as she felt her strength failing her again.

But the weaker she got, the more intense the male lion got and started to glance around hectically. "Okay Auntie, I get you somewhere save. We can help you there and then…"

He was cut off as he could hear the tarnish/orange lioness on the ground a slight chuckle which set Kopa off a bit. "Don't bother Kopa." She remarked sad but with a smile. "I'm done! Just leave me here." Subira added almost fading out again. "Y-your… your father needs you more than ever." She shifted her body so that she now lied on her side. "He's dying you know!"

It was like somebody had sucked all the heat and love out of the golden male's heart. He felt cold inside within right away with a huge hole ripped into his stomach. _Dying, what does she mean by that? _He wanted to ask her again but the lioness seemed to be asleep once again, maybe even for goo this time. "Auntie Subira please… what's wrong with dad?"

For a moment, he thought there was indeed no more reaction coming from the lioness. But then she opened her eyes and looked back up. "He-he has some sort of disease. I don't know which. But you should really see him. It would be the happiest day of his life." Kopa looked away again and Subira decided to continue. "He never forgave himself for not having the chance to see you again."

With that, the two locked eyes on each other again and Subira gave the prince her last smile before she passed away. Kopa was barely able to suppress his tears as he began shoving the lifeless body of the female towards the river. _Farewell Auntie Subira! _He said to her with his mind before he pushed her back inside and watching her floating away onto the distance.

He waited for a moment and mumbled a song that he heard his mother and some of the older pride members sing a few times. He didn't know what they meant but he could tell that is was mourning tune. As he was finished with his mourn and his thoughts. There was only a single word that took control of his whole thought process.

_Invasion!_

* * *

After hours and hours of travelling, Simba and Nala had finally reached the jungle. They had been travelling for the whole night avoiding the heat of the day to get to their destination. The green landscape of the place where Simba had grown stood high in the sky and for the first time in days, the king felt relieved and exhaled deeply. It was the only place where the two were sure that no one would find them.

The king was still breathing heavy, clearly exhausted from the long travel without any kind of shade supporting them. He tilted his head up as he glared over with half opened eyes as the two walked through the yellow and green grass. Both of them felt strange coming to the place where they saw their lives turning for the better. Both stopped after they stepped through some lines of trees and stared into the clearing they knew all too well. "Here it is, this is the place." The cream female added visiting the place of their reunion for the first time in years.

Simba and Nala stepped forth as they went onto the path which Simba had led his mate at back in that night. "I know just the place where no one is going to find us even in this jungle." The golden male was unable to hide the pain and defeat he was feeling in that moment. And his mate didn't feel any different.

Short after, they reached a small pond next to mountain and being supplied with water from a small creek. There was a small waterfall coming down the mountain. Again, both lions felt the familiarness that came from this place and they remembered the moments they shared together years ago. "Up there!" Simba said out loud and pointed to a small ladder made out of various rocks.

Nala glanced up and understood, the steps must lead to a small cave just behind the waterfall. Not quite satisfied about the idea, she followed him carefully and making sure that he was not going to trip in front of her on the slippy and stony ground. But after all, Simba managed to get to the plateau and passed behind the wall of water and walked inside the surprisingly dry cave. He right away settled down in the far corner of the shaking his mane to throw some water out of it.

The fallen queen followed short by as she lied down beside him and leaned her head against the one of her mate. "You better get some rest Sim. I see if I can find something to eat around here." She said before giving him a lick on the cheek and turned around to walk back outside of the cave.

"Nala! Don't go outside alone. It's dangerous out there." She heard Simba call out to her from behind.

She frowned shortly as she recalled him never saying anything about the dangers of this jungle. Yet the king's eyes told her how serious he was and how honest the words he had been using were to him. Yet Nala raised an eyebrow and answered short after. "If a young cub that is raised by a meerkat and a warthog can survive outside, I can do it with ease. But if it calms you down, I'm going to be careful." With that, the cream female walked to the opening of the cave but not without glancing to the back and facing her mate again. "And please, stop worrying so much. I'll be fine."

Nala quickly, walked out of the den and stepped into the moonlit night of the jungle. She may had shown a certain amount of strength over the last hours, mainly because of not wanting to disturb Simba more than he had to. But the moment she was all by herself, the exhaustion and stress of the last days got the better of her and the female broke together on the spot. Nala's eyes got filled with tears again as she stared upwards to the sky and started to climb the mountain.

All the time until she got to the top, the fallen queen had her ears leaned back and her gaze directed upwards while her limbs were aching like hell. After she finally got to the top, Nala suppressed another cry before she started to call out again.

"All our lives, we were told that the great kings of the past would guide us and help us if we would need them. Then how come that our life has become such a mess?" With every word the cream female said, her voice got louder and angrier. "You separate me and the love of my life for years without a reason. You murder and take away our family in front of our eyes way before their time. And you let us be invaded and force us to flee our own home with our pride still in high danger. What have we ever done to deserve this?" She cried directing her head to the ground. "What has Simba ever done, what have I done?"

Tears dropped down from her face and dropped onto the grassy ground. "De' great kings can't protect yu' from _every _kind of harm." A voice from her back called out and Nala twirled around again.

"Ra-Rafiki!" She half asked and half shouted out as she spotted the old mandrill crouching in front of her with his hands holding on to his staff.

Before the cream lioness could respond any further, the monkey stepped forward and put a hand on the back of her neck. "Yu' hav' to understand, ther' are dings dat' even de' great kings cannot pretend from happenin'. Dey' can't warn yu' from certain dings', dey' just can teach yu' how to get through thes' desperate times. Yu' and Simba have to trust in yur' family and friends and yu' hav' to rely on each other to get through dis'."

Even though, the words coming from the old mandrill were encouraging, Nala didn't feel any better. "It's not Simba or myself that I'm worried about. It's my pride; it's my daughter that I'm most worried about. Not only am I a queen Rafiki, I'm also a mother. A mother that is worried sick about the behalf of her only left cub. Kiara is out there separated from her own cubs while me and Simba are out here hiding like cowards." She let out a short growl showing how disappointed she had been with her situation.

But once again, the fallen queen could feel a hand touching her back "Everything's goin' to be alright. Yu' and Simba have raised a healthy and proud daughter. Yur' pride would do anythin' for yu'. The thing we hav' to worry more about is the health of our king." He gave the cream female a short smile and directed his head into the distance and pointed his finger at two figures moving in the distance. "And maybe about thos' twoo'. They're feelin' just as lost as yu' do:"

Nala gazed down and lightened up her face as she spotted Timon and Pumbaa walking along through the plants searching for their lifelong lion friend. She directed her head towards Rafiki and again and gave him another smile before she followed him back down from the mountain.

* * *

What started already as a crappy day, turned into a miserable day. His stomach was twisting and turning which made Kopa wanting to strangle himself. Lost in thoughts and without reacting to anything that was happening around him, he dragged himself through the jungle getting closer to the place where his friends were resting for the day.

Konde and Mwehu didn't have any clue about the encounter their young adult friend had and simply went to their usual daily routine of arguing with each other. The pale cream male still licked the wound of his shoulder as he growled up to the leopard. "Perfect, this one will really take a while. That dude really knows how to fight." The maneless lion growled rubbing his back with his left back leg.

"You can put that on your bill. I told you, I told you numerous times that our path was leading directly into the territory of Fat Albert. But would you listen? NO! You just kept saying. _There is this giant group of impalas which we only have to pass by in order for a great meal. _Konde answered with a self satisfied grin yet feeling a bit sorry for the hole that was rammed into his friend's shoulder.

They both were so deeply sunk in their argument that they didn't notice the golden furred male coming their way and having the blankest expression that the two had ever seen. With slow and shocked steps, Kopa walked right into the clearing as the other two felines raised their head and immediately spotted their friend dropping to the ground all sunken deep in thoughts, worry and sheer shock.

"What's wrong with you Kid?" The black spotted leopard asked right away being immediately worried by the expression the former prince threw at them.

_Where to begin? _Was what the young adult lion thought as he tried to think of what to say to his two pals without shouting out to them who he really was in the end. "I… I… had an encounter with a lioness today." He started putting it pretty simple. Yet he could see the questioning or even throwing some sly and sinister glares. "No! Not what you think. She… she just told me some news. Some news about… a war!"

The moment he spoke the word war out loud, Mwehu and Konde were tensed up as they could now see why Kopa was so distraught and confused. Neither one of them went their eyes off the young adult standing in front of them. The leopard tilted his head to the side getting a bit curious about what was going on. "War, what war?"

The lost prince thought for a moment how to put it before he answered. "She said something about a war between the pride lands and…" he choked as he spoke out the name of his home. "… and the north lands."

Both Mwehu and Konde shook their heads back a bit surprised at the news coming to them. "And did she tell you anything else?" Konde asked again getting to his paws and landing right next to the pale cream lion with the scars.

"No, before she could… she died in my hands." Konde wanted to go forth and put a paw on Kopa's shoulder but the golden male pulled away. "I'm fine!" He assured him right away not wanting this to get into sentimental territory. Even though he felt far worse on the inside than on the outside. "Do you… do you know anything about those two?" Kopa decided to ask further trying to be as nonchalant as he could be.

Again, the pale cream male in the back raised one eyebrow giving the younger lion a small glare of curiosity. It was almost like he was asking if there was anything more the lost prince was hiding. "Beats me!" He answered after he spent a few seconds about if he knew anything that was called the north lands. "I have no clue about all those kingdom territories and the relationships between kingdoms." Mwehu replied relaxed giving his leopard friend a glare with his narrowed eyes.

"Hmm! I know that there is a kingdom called the north lands. It is located, well… northern of the pride lands. I know that the king of it, king Isitha, has no soft spot left for the pridelanders and always envied them for their rich grass and their prey filled savannahs. But last time I checked, king Scar and king Isitha made a pact that would forbid any hostile actions between the two lands."

Kopa listened carefully. _Well, that part of Scar being king can be declined. That's something I know for sure. _"So that means that you don't know anything about it."

They both shook their heads in unison before Konde began to smile. "We don't but… we know someone we could ask. Someone who basically knows everything that is going on in the savannahs and jungles of this world" He added and nudged the pale cream scarred lion on the shoulder that was injured.

Mwehu growled out in pain as he felt the pressure on his wound before her got face to face with his long time leopard friend. The two stared at each other for a while before the scarred male's face lit up in realization. "Oh no!"

"Oh yes!" The leopard remarked and Mwehu right away face palmed as he hated to do realize what was going to happen next. But that wasn't the end of their conversation as he turned his head around and faced the young male lion again. "You seem really troubled with the fact of this war. What is it that is bothering you?" He asked further trying to throw comforting and gentle expressions towards him.

For a short moment, he thought if he was going to answer Konde honest and give them away what was the deal with him and the kingdom of his birth. But the pain in his mind and heart was already enough for him to not needing Mwehu and Konde lecturing him about what he might have done wrong in the past. "I saw her dying right in front of me. I felt sorry for her." He half lied, half twisted the truth around. "It really bugged me, and I think that it might important for us to know what is going on far away from this place."

Again, the scarred male raised his eyebrows and observed the golden colored one carefully. He finally shook his head and began to get back onto his paws. "Alright, if you insist of finding out more about of this war, then we're going to help you!" He finally said and padded the lost prince on his back. "Just leave it to us."

* * *

It was one thing to be invaded by another lion pride and being able to bring their march to a halt. But it was a complete other thing to cope with that same invaders living in the same kingdom with you and constantly interfering with your daily routines. Even though, Ingelozi would have wanted nothing more than to bring a quick end to the pridelander reign, he was satisfied with the fact that he was free to live in the pride lands without fearing acting king Kovu or acting queen Kiara being able to do anything about it.

And that was something that was annoying the pride of the fallen king Simba even more than anything else. With the northlanders now running free in their kingdom, every member of the pridelanders had to be as double as careful as back when the outlanders were the most dangerous thing that had existed.

Vitani, Niyani and Spotty were leading a small hunting party through the plains of the pride lands. It was dangerous to go out there with their new enemy waiting to confront them, but it was also the only chance for them to get to some food for a change. And Ingelozi knew that as well. Or better, Itshe knew that as well.

And with all that being said, it was no surprise that the small group of lionesses came across a group of northlanders that was doing just the same as they did. The sun stood high above the kingdom and the climate felt a bit hotter than it did before. Both groups had their eyes locked on the other that was prowling through the grass on the other side of the river.

Especially Niyani and Vitani bared their teeth and growled once in a while to make clear that the northlanders were not welcome in this kingdom. "I swear, I'm going to throw them out of our home personally." The tan female said out loud while she never let her eyes off of the other group of lionesses. "Look at them, they're mocking us. They know that every minute they stay inside our kingdom, they're taking some of our freedom away."

Beside her, the pale caramel lioness gave frowned as well clapping her paw against Vitani's shoulder. "For now, we have to stay on the defensive. We have way too many problems on our own before we're can start and win back our kingdom." She assured them and kept prowling along the outside of the river.

For now, there was nothing for the pridelanders to do than let the status quo stay and leave the northlanders to their own.

* * *

The day in the jungle went by and already Kopa got more and more impatient with the situation. For hours, he had done nothing but wait for what the two older feline's had in stall for him and how they were going to find out something about that invasion which Subira mentioned to him. And that was making him even madder. He should have trusted his first instinct and head straight for the pride lands to see what was going on. Yet he wasn't going to let his emotions cloud his judgment like last time when was back in his home. At first he had to know what he would be up against.

Because at this point, there was no other option than to return and help his parents.

The golden male had his head resting on his paws and stared back and forth from the leopard and the bush which Konde had his eyes locked himself. The sun stood high but was on the edge of setting as the lost prince finally lost it. "I can't stand these hours and hours of waiting. What is going on here?" He half asked and half demanded with slight anger coming from his voice.

Konde for his part raised one eyebrow seeing at how his young lion friend was about to crack next to him. Of course he noticed how the Kid had gotten more and more impatient and unsettled, but he couldn't lay a paw on what was causing this. He rolled onto his side and scratched his belly for a moment before he replied. "What's the matter with you Kid? Ever since that chat this morning, you have become so hectically. What is it with you and this sudden need for information of the outside world?"

Again, Kopa caught himself by almost revealing everything of his past. But the more he thought about, the more he knew that he would have to do it sooner or later. But now was not the right time. He just leaned back as they heard rustling coming from the bushes nearby. Kopa's senses tensed up immediately and he quickly glared to the side to make eye contact with his friend.

Yet, Konde was suddenly vanished from the place he sat before. He didn't even had a chance to think about how he got away that quickly and easily as he saw a figure approaching the clearing through the bushes. He could make the figure out to be a cat yet in nowhere near the size of a leopard or a cheetah and not even talking about a lion. He had never seen this type of cat before. Its fur color was a mix between red and sand colored with long pitched ears that had a long tuft on it with a black color.

"Now that is a sight that I didn't expect to see. I was expecting a big cat, but I have never seen you before." The caracal called with a smooth voice that from the get-go told everybody that he was wise and intelligent. He and Kopa glared at each other with the male lion narrowing down his eyes.

"And here I thought you were all knowing. Aren't you the one that knows all and everything Ulwazi?" It came from behind the caracal and its eyes widened up immediately. Konde appeared right away and circled around the smaller cat as he turned his glares into a more annoyed tone.

Kopa was surprised about this sudden turn of events as the caracal began to respond. "Well you know me Konde, always in for a surprise. I suppose it was you who had the idea to call me." He added before the leopard behind him put a paw on his shoulder. "So what is it that you want to know?" Ulwazi continued as he looked back and forth between the leopard and the male lion.

Another voice appeared and made the eyes of the caracal widen at once as he set on an annoyed glare. "We just want you to tell us a little story!" All three heard Mwehu walking up from the back. He looked tired and was hard breathing with his muzzle completely covered in blood.

"Huh!" Ulwazi replied annoyed. "What do you know, and here I thought that they freed this world from your hideous sight long ago." He countered as the pale cream scarred male lion walked around him before standing right next to the golden younger one.

A slightly amused chuckle escaped the thought to be dead prince as he brought his head closer to his lion friend's ear and began to whisper. "Does everybody that you meet end up giving you're a death wish for a greeting?" He asked slyly bringing his paw in front of their muzzles to make sure that no one could read their lips.

Mwehu directed his gaze upwards as he answered relaxed. "Yes actually. But that's part of the fun." He laughed and Kopa joined in short after.

Konde on the other hand was determined to bring the subject back onto the matter at hand. "Well… since we all have come together to exchange complements, could we at least focus on what we have called you here before?" He half asked half demanded and jumped onto a tree lying flat on the ground and rested his head on his front legs.

"Oh sure… but what is in store for me?" The caracal then gave away with his nonchalant voice slightly hinting at his payment.

But that was when Kopa got up and brought his face directly in front of the smaller cat's nose. "How about we decide to not kill you!?" he threatened Ulwazi yet felt a paw on his chest right away as Konde got from his point and shoved the golden furred king backwards.

While Ulwazi smirked up at the two, the leopard brought himself between the caracal and the lion before he started to explain. "Relax Kid, this is alright. Ulwazi is some sort of a merchant!" He said with his eyes directed to the small cat at his feet.

"I would call myself more of a business cat!" The male caracal answered bringing his head to his chest and taking a small bow.

"Or more of a dealer!" Mwehu then threw in as he himself received an angry glare from the black spotted feline in the middle of the quartette. He quickly choked down the words he had further in stall before he added shortly. "Alright, Ulwazi is an informant. He knows everything that goes on the savannah. And he trades information for meat." The scarred lion answered towards Kopa before he eyed the caracal again. "Anyway, we can pay you. There is a full grown buffalo waiting for you behind that bush. And it's all yours if you tell us some of your secrets."

The eyes of Ulwazi grew wide immediately as he had to restrain himself in order to not stumble completely overwhelmed. "My dear friends!" he started with a slimy voice. "For a whole buffalo, I'm going to tell all the secrets I posses. What do you want to know?"

Konde and Mwehu smirked to themselves before the leopard started. "My golden furred pal over there recently came across a lioness that told him about a war about the pride lands and the north lands. And now we wanted to know what you do know about that:"

Shaking his head back a little after hearing this request from the three bigger felines, Ulwazi chuckled slightly without them noticing. "You seriously don't know about that one. There's basically nothing else which the animals talk about anymore." He noticed how all three of them shook their head and he sighed for a short moment. "Alright then… for generations, the pride lands had been the land of desire for nearly every pride of lions that lived in the African savannah."

Kopa had heard this before coming from Yaki. And by now, he really believed it. He tilted his head downwards before facing the caracal again who kept talking. "And the kingdom of the north lands was no exception. For years, they have envied the pridelanders for their rich and graceful landscapes and cursed their own way hotter climate and the fact that their prey began migrating towards the kingdom of the great kings. Yet they never had been able to become a serious threat to Ahadi, Mohatu and so on… But that was about to change when king Isitha and Scar met."

"I should have known!" All three heard Mwehu speak out at the moment he heard the brown/red furred dead king's name. They all raised their eyebrows before the scarred one shrugged his shoulder. "Sorry, just a little memory that I had to bring out."

"Anyway!" The caracal spoke up again a bit annoyed by the fact that he had been interrupted before he continued. "I don't know the details about their deal but somehow, Scar helped king Isitha to unite the north lands in the pride wars which brought them to closer to the idea of bringing both kingdoms together."

Slowly getting the idea, Konde raised his head from his paws. "But I guess that didn't turn out as they planned." He threw in quickly.

"Exactly, that whole plan had been made none and void when the son of king Mufasa returned from the dread and reclaimed the throne."

In the back, Kopa's heart filled with pride as he thought about the story which his father had told him a few times and how it spread all over the country. He could even see Mwehu beside him throwing off a surprised and glad smirk as he counted two and two together. _He must have known dad! _Yet both their attentions came back onto the caracal as he told the story further.

"Now with the deal between Isitha and Scar being over, the two kingdoms lived their lives with Isitha raising two strong and independent sons named Ingelozi and Ingozi." Mwehu and Konde gave away short laughter hearing the similarity of their names while Kopa continued to listen carefully. "But that was peace was about to change as Ingelozi decided to throw his own brother over once the king had passed away. Rumors say that Isitha was murdered by Ingelozi, but there's no evidence for that matter right now. All we know is that he overthrew prince Ingozi and immediately set course for the pride of king Simba and queen Nala."

"That could have been only a quarter moon away." Konde got in as he was surprised how some news spread so quickly but others didn't. "So what about the king and the queen?"

Ulwazi walked closer to them and sat down in front of the trio. "Now here is the part where it gets dramatic. Simba and Nala were unable to defend their kingdom. It has been a well know news in the south that the king of the pride lands was seriously sick and was unable to lead his kingdom against the attack. And with his son dying years ago at the paws of Zira… there was no one to take over the lead."

Kopa's head sunk together right away. He was feeling guilty for what had happened to his father and his home even though the attack of the northlanders probably had happened even though he would have sustained that evening with Zira. But if his father wasn't in charge anymore… did that mean… "What about king Simba now, is he dead?"

"No!" The caracal answered quickly waiving his right front paw in denial. "He is on the run along with his mate, nobody knows where he had vanished. But before he left, he stepped down as king and tried to pass his crown on to his daughter Kiara and her mate Kovu."

_His daughter Kiara… oh my… I have a sister and… wait a sec… her mate Kovu? Kovu s together with Kiara, Zira would have never approved that. _Kopa was losing it, the news he received from his home were just too much for him to handle. He was so deeply sunken in thought that he didn't hear the story about the war between the pridelanders and the outlanders.

Ulwazi was getting a raspy voice and he tried to wrap the report he had to make. "But in the end, it never came to the passing of the crown as the attack of the northlanders interrupted that scene. And you can only be named king of the pride lands of you give away your roar from the top of pride rock with the shaman of the great kings witnessing it. For now, the pride lands have no king."

"Thank the devil that we can change that!" It came out of the sudden from Mwehu as he got to is paws.

Beside him, Konde raised his eyebrows and frown and frowned a little. "What are you implying?"

He received a mocking grin from the scarred lion as he threw some glanced back and forth between the leopard and the other male lion around. "That means that I'm sure our little golden pal over there is willing to take back the throne that is rightfully his." He said and Kopa as well as Konde and Ulwazi jerked their heads up and back with the caracal and the leopard glaring over deeply at Kopa. "Isn't that right _your highness_?"

The thought to be dead prince began to sweat as he locked his gaze on the pale cream lion in front of him. "Okay, when and how?"

Mwehu walked over him and brought the edges of his muzzle upwards. "Not that long ago! We knew from day one you arrived here that you had something to hide. But for years we couldn't lay a finger on what it was. And when you started to talk about where you came from, I started to realize. And then this lioness comes floating down the river and tells you about this war and… swoosh you're changed completely. I'm not a genius and I could figure it out pretty fast." He stopped talking and Kopa as well as Konde walked over to their friends.

Defeated, the prince bowed his head and glared into the round. _No more reason to keep it a secret. "_I was just a young cub, I was Impulsive, arrogant and naughty. I often argued with my father about how he was shoving me aside only to keep his kingdom going. The kingdom I was supposed to earn from him." He stopped for a short moment to hold back a sob.

"One evening, I got in serious trouble when I yelled at him and my mother. I wished for my… sister… to never being born alive. And then I said my last words to my father… the word _I hate you!_" Another pause followed and the mimics of Konde and Ulwazi became more and more filled with sorry for the young prince. "That night, my grandmother and I were on a walk when we got surprised and attacked by Zira and two friends of her. My… grandmother died that evening and I got washed down the river before you picked me up."

The yellow furred and black spotted male feline got even closer and gave a gentle expression towards him. "Then, why didn't you tell us when you came across us? Why didn't you tell us to bring you back?" He asked now seeing everything that happened in the last years with completely different eyes.

"I… I was afraid. I was afraid that I was going to be found by another male lion and that he was going to kill me. Zira told me that there was no place for me to hide since I was the son of the king. And I couldn't go back with Zira still out there and my father hating me."

There was a laughter coming from the pale cream one as he passed the two and now stood right beside them laughing. "Hahaha, and you really believed her?! That lioness never spoke a true thing in her whole life before. And you believed her that your father was really going to hold a grudge against his own young son? And here I thought that you were clever."

"Mwehu!" Konde went in with a serious and stern tone making sure that he did not agree with the words of the scarred lion.

But Mwehu was already all over Kopa's face and growled at him. "I knew your father, maybe not even close as you did. But trust me… he would have never abandoned you like this. Look deep inside and tell me that I'm wrong." He stared deeply into the aqua eyes of the younger lion for what seemed like an eternity. But finally, the golden furred male went in and nodded his head to sign that he was agreeing with the older one. "Come here!" Mwehu finally said and wrapped his right front paw around Kopa hugging him friendly.

Away from the two, Konde gave away a glad nod and turned then again towards the caracal still at their side. "And you have no idea where the king and the queen have gone to?" He asked almost whispering into the smaller once ears.

"Officially not, but for the sake of the kid, this one is on the house." They have gone into the desert east from the pride lands. Konde gave him a quick 'thank you' and the caracal walked away from the scene. "I have to warn you, the king and his followers have nearly taken over half of the pride lands. In order to get to pride rock, you have to cross their territory. And they are vicious lions."

"I'll keep that in mind." The leopard countered and the two separated before Konde joined Mwehu and Kopa who let go of each other of each other. He waited until the two paid their full attention to him before he began. "With Simba and Nala on the run, no king to protect the pride lands and the northlanders gaining the upper hand, we have to be careful if we want to help them. If he really killed his brother and his father, he is one tough enemy to beat. But… they don't expect the true heir to the throne coming back to the surface."

Mwehu began to laugh. "Man, are they in for a surprise."

All three put some determined glares as they nodded to approve the now set return to pride rock. They were about to walk away as Kopa said. "But first, I have to find my parents."

_[2 hours later]_

"Oh you got to be kidding me!?" Kopa gasped frustrated as he started to glare into the wide and endless sandy landscape lying to the front of his paws.

The golden furred male was about to follow his two friends when he stopped dead in his tracks as he heard a familiar voice calling out to them. "Hey Kopa… wait up!"

He turned around and was surprised to see the sight of Yaki and Taikamu coming emerging from a bush nearby, Kopa had no idea if he should be flattered that the two had found him again or if he should be frightened that there was a slight possibility of the tan female stalking him. Yet the young male answered with a smile as they stared over to him while approaching him. "I can see that you are still really good at finding me." He said with a smile as he greeted Yaki and the other lioness with a quick nuzzle.

"We were actually really just taking a tour around our territory when we caught your friends' scent and you walking towards the desert. We uhm… I decided to go check on you. And see what you are up to." Yaki said as she sat down in front of him with Taikamu just sitting back at the side and observing the scene. "What are you up to?"

Kopa thought for a moment if he should give away everything. And when he thought about it deeply, there was nothing else he could say than to cut right to the chase. "Remember that night when we almost… well you know. And I began telling you about my life back home?! I finally decided to something about it." He exhaled slowly before he began to continue. "My parents need me!"

Right away, the female lion got an idea about what was going on and felt the sudden rush to ask Kopa. "Can I help you?"

If he didn't know it before, the golden colored prince knew that she was obsessed with him. And Kopa began to wonder if he really was worth all that. "Thanks Yaki. But this is something I have to do on my own. I can't risk you getting sucked into anything more brutal and hostile again. And that goes for you as well Taikamu." He added and slowly turned his gaze onto the ground.

Again, he could see the face if the tan female getting disappointed and again shoved something back towards her. "But I'll promise you that I will come back. If I'm really going to reclaim my kingdom, I'll make sure that you two are going to have some future."

"But not the future I would like to have with you?"

He continued to stare to the ground before he answered. "Probably not!"

They stared at each other before they stared at each other with smiles before embracing the other one with Taikamu watching delighted. After they departed, the younger female gave him a lick on the cheek as she gave him her possible last words. "Good luck, and be careful!" She stroked him again on the marks of his face before they heard the leopard in back yelling out to the young prince.

"Come on! Move it Kid!" Konde called as he and Mwehu had already began their long and exhausting walk through the desert where Kopa was about to find Simba and Nala for the first time in years.

Taikamu and Yaki watched after them before the older female smirked at the younger one before saying out. "Let me guess, you're not going to leave it to that huh?!"

Yaki smirked back slyly at her as she began walking herself. "Sorry, but this is something that I owe him. He saved both of us in some sort of a way. And I still have something that I have to give back to him."

* * *

**Author's note: **And that's it for tonight. Yes I know that Ulwazi was a heavy plot device that I pulled out here ;). But then again, it was one of the view concepts that didn't get changed through all the months of planning.

Another thing that you might be wondering. How can a small cub like Kopa survive a fall from the cliff into this river and being washed down while a full grown healthy lioness like Subira gets finished by it? Well simply because of luck and our story being over by now. :D

Now, I see that my watch shows. 0:15 a.m. on December 24th and I guess that there's nothing else for me to say then…

Ich wünsche euch allen frohe Weihnachten und schöne Feiertage.

_I wish you all merry Christmas and happy holidays_

Thanks again for reading and see you next week.


	14. Fate of a family

Hi there once again.

I hope that you got some great gifts for Christmas and had some great time.

So today we have the last chapter of this year. And that leaves us with only five chapters left (this one already excluded).

**Starzinmyeyez: **Don't worry about the reviewing thing. ;) When you think about, the life of Simba and Nala really has been a mess.

**Reldor: **I know that you are all waiting for the return of Kopa. But relax, he is alreadyy back on his way.

* * *

Chapter 14: fate of a family

"Okay! Is it clear?" Tama asked as she called out to the ochre male Tojo and the pale caramel female Niyani as the duo walked up the pathway upwards to the top of pride rock where Tama along her mate Malka as well as Sabini and Nafsi were waiting. The sky was star sprinkled and very clear yet with fog lying all over the grasslands and made the moon reflect in it lighting the whole kingdom with the pale light.

The two turned their heads around giving a nod to the other ones before walking over to them. "Yes, but I'm not quite sure about the location. Wouldn't a place far away from our home been way better than right on top of it?" Tojo replied as he and his mate sat down right inside the circle of the six adult lions.

The tarnish/orange female waited for a short moment before she exhaled and glanced into the round speaking out. "Okay, so this is how it goes. The northlanders have started to ruin our hunts as they moved closer to pride rock with every day. Yet they still wait for the final attack. Personally, I think that they are mocking us." She gave away facts that were no secret to anyone of the lions present. Yet every one of the group listened in carefully.

"But what I don't get here is why we have to meet up here with no one allowed to hear us." Niyani threw in glaring around to neither see Kiara, Kovu or Zazu nearby to listen to them as well.

Nafsi and Malka exchanged glares as the pale golden female replied short after. "Because what we are here to discuss is a strategy to throw those invaders out of our home. And doing that without our acting king and our acting queen as well as their major-domo could be interpreted as treason against the crown. Tojo has informed us that ever since Meethu died." She wrapped a front leg around her daughter as she tried to calm her down. "The mistrust under the young ones towards Kovu is bigger than ever before." She said letting everybody know how disappointed she was in that fact.

"They won't follow him against the northlanders." Malka added to the words of his mother before he directed his head to the ground disappointed as well.

Even though this hurt her as well, she still wasn't convinced that they should be out here alone by themselves. "That's what I thought. Naima is looking at him with the pure disgust, even Tojo and I can't knock some sense into her." She answered before she brought up another pint. "The loss of Simba and Nala has also brought doubt into the others. They recall themselves as the former outsiders again." She bowed her head as well before she got it right up again.

"But… what about Kiara, she is the rightful queen. Aren't they supposed to follow her after all?"

Again, the older lioness and the tarnish/orange female glared around shaking their heads. "Have you seen Kiara lately, she's trying to hide it but… she's a wreckage. Her parents are gone, her father might never return to her and she doesn't have a single clue where he cubs are, all in while her home is invaded and her subjects are not willing to follow her mate. For a young lioness like her, that's way too much to handle."

"The problem is that the pride is even more divided than ever and we don't have a king." Malka said with a heavy voice wishing that Simba wouldn't have gone sick in the first place. "What we can do now is to take over for a moment and bring the pride united behind us."

Niyani and Tojo as well as Sabini stared at the other three as all of them had surprised and questioning looks in their eyes. "And who do you suppose should become the leader of this kingdom? It's not like we have that much royalty left beside Kiara and Kovu!" Tojo threw in getting into his sarcastic side again. Again, the three threw another set of deep glares towards their ochre colored cubhood friend. Tojo's eyes widened as he tilted his ears back. "No way!?"

But Nafsi and Tama were already set on that idea. "There is a slight loophole in the law where it's set that if no member of the royal family is able to be the king, the next dominant male's can become the leaders. Which leaves us with… you and Malka." Nafsi said and stepped up in front of Tojo who had his muzzle hanging down all the way to the ground.

Sabini turned around and stared to the western side of the kingdom where the northlanders were hiding for sure right in that moment. "I bet he's out there laughing at us and is only waiting for us to give up.

* * *

And indeed she was right. Up in the western hills on the highest mountain stood the king of the northlanders Ingelozi watching up to the giant rock formation serving as the castle for the king and queen. Although they had not been there for a week. The brown furred and green eyed male stared into the distance completely satisfied with himself.

"Your plan is working!" He said to the other male that had been going along with his plans for such a long time. Itshe sat just a few feet behind his king and listened carefully. "They are starving out there. With us ruining their hunts and my pride to be fed well, they soon will have no other chance than to hand the kingdom over to me in order for them to eat again. Just like you said; no more bloodshed than necessary."

Itshe in the back, smirked evil to himself without the king noticing it. He himself was extremely satisfied with himself but mostly for the fact that he had the king thinking in a direction which he wanted him to think. _If Ingelozi is reacting the way I want him to be, he is really going to lose patience very soon. The perfect time for my own agenda to take in._

Was the expression of Ingelozi lightened up and even a bit happy, his gaze went stern and hateful again. "But then again, we still haven't found the cubs of the princess. Whoever has taken them away with them, they are really doing a good job. And I still haven't rattled the cages of my children at pride rock enough. There's still so much to be done." He began to speak in a distant and even a bit crazy voice as the two males saw the queen Ikhaya moving over to them.

"But that can all wait for tomorrow." She said in an also slimy voice before she rubbed her head against the king's chest. She turned her head around and stared at Ingelozi in a seductive way and the two males immediately understanding what the queen wanted from the brown furred male.

He didn't wait for a short moment before the king began to follow the queen away from the scene. "You have to answer one question Itshe!" He said with his head turned back to the beige ex-pridelander as he gave away a challenging and demanding expression. "We have been raised as family. Beside me and my brother, you were the only one that was allowed to visit my father alone. So I have to know…"

Ingelozi didn't wait for the Itshe to give an answer and simply waited for the other male to nod slightly. "You have also been raised and trained by Scar. Now… I know that he had another plan installed for you other than helping us win the pride wars. So when the time had come for you to choose between your new family and your mentor… what side would you have chosen?"

Kimae's son thought carefully for a moment before he gave away pretty cryptic answer. "It's simple, I would have taken the side of the ones that had the better chances of succeeding." He answered and was unable to hold back a nasty smirk.

But that was exactly the answer which the northlander king expected to get. "I see." He replied before he turned his attention back to the light brown lioness at his side. "Well, in that case… see you tomorrow. The day we bring the pride lands yet another step towards our rule."

* * *

The situation Tama and the others described the other night above pride rock was actually the right situation to tell about the pride lands. The situation was downright critical. They were starving ever since the invading pride had started to cut them off from the prey and the herds. The controlled everything from the western side of Zuberi River and therefore had lots of waterholes under their control.

It was something that chewed on the pridelanders nerves. And so, even with the lions and lionesses not being allowed to leave pride rock alone, a lot of them did it anyway. One of those was the daughter of Tojo and Niyani named Naima. The pale caramel female wandered through the grassy landscape as she searched for anything she could eat.

She had her gazes directed to the ground to avoid the bright and strangely hot and wearing sun from above. _This is ridiculous, those lions are invading our home and that stupid mate of Kiara is doing nothing. I know that I was a bit harsh on him. But even if he's supposed to be the future king, he has to step in for Simba. But he and his sister are doing nothing. _She thought angrily as she shifted her gazes slightly from side before she spotted a young zebra running along through the grasslands.

Naima licked her lips as she brought her body low to the ground and ready for the hunt. She thought the opportunity most welcome as she followed the black and white animal. The pale caramel female was about to go into a sprint when a brown flash appeared in front of her and suddenly blocked her path towards her prey animal.

Tojo's daughter glared up and stared directly into the face of a male lion from the north lands who growled down on her. Her eyes widened as she growled back as she tried to move to the side and away from the foreign lion. Yet she didn't get far as she collided with another male lion coming from the back.

Both started to circle around her as one of them started to call out to her. "It is not wise for such a little fragile creature like you to be all out her on your own." He said with both of them closing in on her.

"What do you want?" Naima asked as she got her composure back and tensed her muscles back up.

A chuckle appeared from the other side and she immediately turned around to see the brown male Ingelozi and queen Ikhaya coming over to them. "Relax pridelander, I'm not here to kill you… not yet. I simply want you to deliver a message for me." He brought his face closer to hers and Naima tried to move backward again. Yet she right away collided with the chest of one of the other males. "You will go back home to your pride and tell that son of mine and his sister that I want to have a talk with them. Tell them to meet me at this exact spot at dawn. And then I may let your lousy existence continue for another day. Do you understand?"

Even though the pale caramel lioness was shivering, she tried her best to not show it. She kept on a stern expression and nodded slowly to make clear that she indeed understood.

Ingelozi smiled down to her in a mocking way before he turned around and distanced himself from the scene. But not without turning around again and directing his gaze towards the trio staying behind. "And since I want to make sure that my threats coming having substance." He nodded towards the males and they began to growl. "Explain to her that we don't do empty threats. And show her how we cement our statements in the northlands."

He and Ikhaya didn't even bother to look back as the two males began closing in on Naima who held her ears back in fear.

* * *

"You know, perhaps having someone tell you _'they went into the desert' _wasn't exactly the most precise way of direction he could give you!" Mwehu spoke frustrated as he, Konde and Kopa were wandering through as they still searched for the way which Nala and Simba had crossed in order to get to their hiding place. "I bet you that we have been going in circles for quite a while now." He stopped and felt the still open wound on his shoulder that he sustained from the attack with 'Fat albert'.

The sand was blowing all over the place and got into their wounds, their eyes and their ears. It was something that made it very difficult for Kopa to track down a single glimpse of the scent of his parents. A scent that he didn't even recognize that well anymore. "My parents talked to me a lot about how dad had spent his youth in a jungle on the eastern side of the desert. It's just… that I have no idea how to orientate without a smell to catch on." He admitted what Mwehu said and continued padding through the sandy area.

Konde in the back stared around and as he somehow took a sudden interest in a dune to their left and he kept moving up to it. "I sure have no idea how a king _smells._ He stopped for a short moment as he thought about the way he said it before he continued. "But I know when I can smell food and water." He added before moving upwards the yellow sandy dune.

In the back, Mwehu and Kopa stared after him as the golden former prince slowly spoke into his ear. "Can he really smell water?" He asked almost half not believing of the abilities of the adult leopard.

"You'd be surprised at what he can smell."

They shrugged their shoulder and followed their feline friend over the edge of the dune and then found themselves staring at a wide flat plain and a small oasis just a few feet in front of her. Kopa's eyes widened once again as he saw Konde down walking up to the small pond of water that was set in the middle of the small green island in the desert. "Wow! He really can smell water!" Kopa said as he chuckled before turning his head to the side.

What he saw over there took him completely off guard and let his heart jump for a while. Far away on the edge of the horizon, he could see a shimmering landscape of green plants reaching high into the air. And he was sure that that was neither a mirage nor the jungle he and his two friends had lived for the last years. "Mwehu! Look!" he gasped out loud and nudged the maneless lion in the side before pointing with his paw towards the jungle in the distance.

"You're either the greatest navigator n the world. Or you're just the luckiest lion that has ever lived." The male lion with the Mohawk answered as Kopa couldn't help to smile back at him.

"Well, the fact that I survived an attack from a full grown lioness, a fall down a cliff into a river before getting washed away by it and being able to live through it to reach an adult state. That should be enough evidence for you about how lucky I got." The younger one replied sharply before he came down walking over to the oasis where the yellow furred leopard had settled down for a nap. "Hey Spots!" He called out to him before he came to a halt in front his friend. His face turned into a stern and urging glare before shoving him into the side. "Come on! We have to keep moving. The jungle is just into that direction."

He called and glanced to the side where the pale cream male lion got over to them at once and lied down as well. Again, the thought to be dead prince narrowed his eyes and shifted his head back and forth between Konde and Mwehu. "Guys! What's wrong, if we keep up the pace we can be there before the night sets in."

The leopard lifted his head up and stared at their young friend as he shook his head. "How far is it away?" He asked and glanced to the side where the scarred male lied raised his head as well ready to answer.

"I guess about a whole day of travel. I could only see it on the very edge of the horizon." His voice was sleepy and he turned back to licking the wound on his shoulders. He grunted for a short moment until he muttered out frustrated. "My shoulder is killing me!" He said slightly growling and resting his head on the ground again.

Kopa and Konde locked their eyes on each other and the young lion gave the leopard another stare of urge. But Konde quickly interfered before the golden furred one could call him again to get up. "It has been a long trip already. Look at us! We have to rest here and wait for the night to com until we approach that place. If we really have to get back and fight for your kingdom, it doesn't help us if we are drawn out from the travel before that."

"But! But… my parents and my pride need me. The sooner we get over there, the quicker we can get to the pride lands." But as he saw how the leopard and the older lion were already at the edge of sleep, Kopa let his ears hang and dropped onto his stomach as well. He rubbed his paw slightly over the ground staring up to the sun and into the desert as his gaze got more and more bland.

"What's wrong?" Konde asked again as he saw the golden furred prince got a frustrated glare and rested his paws on the shoulder.

Kopa sighed and somehow began to bring out his inner feelings once more. "All these years, I have been hiding from my family and my friends, the few I had. And now that I hear all these new from my home, there's no time for me waste any more time and come to aid my family." He began to chuckle as he thought of another person that he couldn't wait to see again. "Hehe, I wonder what Tani is going to say once I get back and see her again."

The faces of the two males lit up and their muzzle turned into small smiles. "Ta-ni!" The both said in a low and long drawn out voice.

Kopa realized what he done the moment they said out her name. Now he had no other choice than to speak out the story that lay behind this name. "Yes, Vitani! She… she was the only friend that I have during my time in the pride lands. She is Zira's daughter and Kovu's sister. You would actually really like her." He remarked pointing with his paw towards the scarred lion.

Before he couldn't even pretend Konde from saying out loud, the leopard began talking with a slick smirk. "So… that's why you were afraid of getting it on with that lioness?!" He half asked and half yelled out at the same time. "If I would have known that you might have someone waiting at home, I wouldn't have searched the jungle for possible girlfriends." He laughed with all of them knowing that he was kidding.

"Might be true!" Kopa answered as he thought a bit more into that direction. But the more he thought about the tan almost boyish female, the more he felt his mood lighting up. After all, he had no idea how many of the pride were left from the time he last was in the pride lands. Vitani on the other hand had always been there for him. And there was no way for her to fall victim to the northlanders. She was just too strong for that.

Yet on the side, it was Mwehu's turn to observe the young adult with care as he began asking out himself. "But that's not all that is chewing on you?" The leopard asked with raised eyebrows and scratched his side with his back leg.

Again, Kopa stared towards the sun and then to the two felines. "I just have been thinking, it had been so many years. I was wondering what I was going to say if I really find them there." He gave away from the beginning and nearly closed his eyes thinking about his parents again. "I told my father that I hated him and my mother that I wished she would give birth to a dead cub. I was so angry and… I fear the moment I step in front of them again."

Again, there was a short pause as Konde thought about how to get some courage beck into the mind of the young adult. "Now listen kid, from what I've heard so far, your parents are the most kind lions that had ever lived in this world. And trust me on this one, no parent can stay mad at their cubs for that long." He assured him and Kopa got back to smiling again.

"But still… it had been so many years that we haven't seen each other. Hell… he thinks I'm dead. And now that he is dying, we have no time to catch up with each other." Kopa once again went in with the doubt still being inside him. "What if I find him and he is barely able to recognize me or even realize that his son has returned? And with all that has happened…"

But already, Konde and Mwehu waived with their paws to give the young adult a sign to quiet down. The pale cream lion was the first to speak. "Endure and accept!" he already saw the stares of the younger one and held his paw up as saying _let me finish. _"I know that sounds cruel but… it's something that you have to understand. You can't change the past, even if you regret many things that happened in it. You are living in the present and the future. As hard as it sounds, don't grieve for chances unused and take the ones that offer themselves for you right now."

Kopa was not really convinced with that statement. The regret he felt for his last meeting with his parents was still too big. "You expect me that I just burry the past with the death of my father?"

"No!" Konde then came in and the young lion turned his head around and glared at the leopard. "We expect you to accept the fact that you made some mistakes in the past. And that you have to live with them. Live is full of mistakes and failures, but the way we emerge from them shows our true self."

"What do you regret most in your life?" Nala's son then asked as he felt a bit relieved and having the opportunity to talk honest with his friends again.

Konde rubbed his chin with his front paw before replying. "Seeing as how I am perfectly able to live in a group as a leopard, I regret that I went the way of my nature and broke up nearly every connection with my family." He answered slowly. "But then again, I have you as my family now. And that's worth more than you can imagine.

A chuckle escaped from Mwehu's muzzle and he slowly stared upwards seeing both his friends giving him a challenging smile. "As for your interest, I made way more mistakes in my life than what was healthy. But still… I don't regret any of those. They made we who I am today, and taking back one of those failures, would take away my identity."

Kopa smiled and then shook his head in order to understand what the two felines at his side had been telling him. It may be only a day of travel, but the young male was already completely out of composure as he thought about his parents and how he was about to be reunited with them.

* * *

The sun of the outlands was merciless as it shined down on the rocky and sandy ground of the dead landscape. Yet unlike the desert, there wasn't any breeze going down and filling the air. For the group of lions trying to get towards the ride lands themselves, things were getting more and more dramatic as the three hungry and exhausted lions moved through the dead and dried out land.

Yet it wasn't that much walking as more sitting for the moment as Kichwa approached his sister Akili as she crawled out of a hole in a stony wall. He quickly rubbed his head against hers before he asked out right away. "How is she doing?"

The caramel female knew what her brother was talking about and slowly shook her head. "Not good! Her condition has become better since yesterday, but she is still in no way of getting into a fight with Ingelozi and his followers." Akili said as she had her ears leaned back and sat down just in front of the dark brown male at her side.

Their lion's sister Moyo had gotten sick from dehydration over the last moments and for now was unable to take any long walks constantly. And with her not unable to move very fast, their plan of getting to the pride lands and help the king and the queen in their fight against the northlanders was already completely ruined. Kichwa himself sat down as he kept listening to his sister going on. "In this condition, we won't make it into the pride lands. It might be better for you to continue on our own."

At once, Chumvi's son was on edge as he brought his paws in front of him in a denying way. "And leave you two out here all on your own? Are you nuts?" He asked already giving the answer to the female. "I promised mom and dad to watch out for you, and I'm not going to disappoint him anymore."

The last statement was something that made his sister to jerk her head slightly backwards frowning in confusion at what Kichwa was saying. "What do you again? When did you ever disappoint dad in the past?" She asked crawling a bit closer to the dark brown male.

Kichwa brought his ears downwards and shook it slightly. "I promised that one day, I would watch out for this family. And yet here I am, with my parents taking refuge in their own home. And then we have my sister and I stumbling through a barren wasteland and Moyo getting sick in the middle of it. That's some nice record." He brought out and hammered his paw onto the ground in frustration.

"Don't think that Kichwa, you were just as caught by surprise and shock as the rest of us. We just weren't prepared for any of this to happen. Just don't get into this self regretting mood." Akili spread a smile and walked over to him rubbing their heads together and rested again in the sand and dust. "I guess we have to wait until Moyo gets better. We found a small pond of water inside. For now, we should rest until we get ready to fight."

Even though the talk he had with his sister didn't wash away some guilt that he felt before. He had to agree that she was right for now, there was nothing more to do for them than to wait for their sister to get better.

* * *

Sunset came earlier than Kovu and Vitani wanted to come. But the closer it came, the more nervous the siblings got. It wasn't that long ago that they had to witness the lioness Naima coming back to pride rock. Her face and her body beaten up and scars and cuts laid all over fur which was sprinkled with dried blood. The pale caramel lioness was full of bitterness and hate as she returned and gave the duo the message that Ingelozi wanted her to give them.

The dark brown male led the way with Vitani following close by and having a stern expression on her face. The tan female kept her head and her gaze moving from side to side observing their surroundings while her brother had his gaze locked right ahead his eyes showing a stern expression. If he would have had a chance, he would have left his sister back at home. But the young female barely left him a choice. And since his _father _didn't care for Naima to be roughed up like that, he was certain that he would be dry that out on the rest of the pride as he didn't do as Ingelozi told.

They kept walking for another ten minutes until they reached the grassy field right next to a small boulder where they could see the tracks being left over from the fight the former day. Kovu sat down and turned around facing the tan furred female with his green eyes glaring at her anxious and slightly sorrow.

"And what now?" Vitani asked out in alert before she got back onto her paws and glancing around again. She had her senses on the edge all around her and narrowed her eyes to look towards the grass surrounding them.

But that was when they both heard paw steps coming from behind and making their ears jerk up and their heads turn into towards the source of them. And that was when Vitani caught her first glimpse of the brown lion telling her brother that he was her father. The green eyes of Ingelozi locked on the young lioness and the dark brown lion and his muzzle spread out to a huge smirk.

Their gazes were stony and cold as they kept glaring at their father and Vitani couldn't hold back a growl from escaping their mouth. Yet Kovu tried his best to keep his sibling down and gave her a short look to make her calm. "We're here! What is it that you want?" The acting king asked sharp and brought his head forward and he narrowed down his eyes to stare the foreign king down.

Ingelozi raised his head and stepped forth before he smirked down on his son. He didn't pay that much attention towards Kovu then towards the tan female in the back as he began smirking over to her. "You must be the sister of Kovu! What is your name my child?" His voice was slimy as he threw laughter towards Vitani which made the female shiver.

But Kovu's sister kept growling before she quickly answered between her bared teeth. "Vitani… and I am not _your _child!" She remarked showing her dislike for her supposed father.

For a short moment, the young male wanted to throw back another glare at Vitani to deescalate the situation. But then again, it was her right to be angry right now. Kovu quickly put himself together before he went back into the conversation. "You wanted us to come here and talk to us. So here we are. We didn't come here just to have a small talk." He said with a growl and only forced the brown furred king to smirk again.

"Directly to the point, I see Zira's temper in you!" He remarked and caused the two lions in front of them to gaze even angrier than before. As he kept glancing to the side, he began padding slightly to the side and turned his back on the group in front of him. "Oh alright! It's actually pretty simple. I am her to make a proposition to you."

Right away, neither Kovu nor Vitani was feeling good in any way about the words of Ingelozi as they kept glaring angrily and cautious at their father. But the foreign king didn't really wait for the two to answer as he continued. "I give you tow one final chance to stop the bloodshed and deliver the kingdom to me." He began and Zira's cubs tensed up right away.

"My lions and my subjects have successfully kept you away from your prey. And without food… you will starve." He almost said those words as if he was lecturing the duo throwing mocking glances at Kovu and Vitani. "I on the other hand can make that you will not longer have to go hungry into your sleep. If you decide to give up pride, kneel before me and accept me as your new king, I'll make sure that you and your mate as well as your cubs can flee this place unharmed. But only if your pride stays loyal to me."

Kvou glared towards the ground as he somehow expected this to happen. And he was sure he expected the older male to know what his answer was going to be. "Do you really think that you can come here and take our home without us having a word in that? There's no way that we are backing down from you. We swore to Simba that we would protect our kingdom from you." He said out loud as his sister came walking over to him and stood right at his side in a supporting way.

Ingelozi, thought being a bit angered, kept his calm and chuckled slightly. "You're just as stubborn as my brother. You also don't know when to go with the trend and stay with your lousy principles. Have you ever thought about what we two, what we three could accomplish as a family, how we could rule this two kingdoms as one? Together we…"

He didn't get any further before he was interrupted by the tan furred female who brought her head forth growling viciously. "We WON'T… you invade our home, you try to enslave our friends and pride… and you dare call yourself our father. WE WILL NEVER KNEEL BEFORE YOU. I would rather die than to be one of your subjects." With every word, Vitani got more and more angry before she got hold back by Kovu who shoved quickly into the back.

"I think we're done here!" Kovu said and gave Ingelozi another hateful and despising look before he and his sister began to move away from the scene with the brown male growling over at them.

_Yeah, just like Itshe expected. The bonds between the pridelanders are just as strong as they could be. At least underneath the ones being born in the pride lands. Though I wonder if that is the case with the other lions living inside this kingdom. _Slowly, he followed the duo of young adults for a few steps and glanced after the duo of young adults before he gave away a short roar in frustration. "If you are really that loyal to each other, you should die just like the rest of your pride. I will make sure of that."

Ingelozi took another glare at his paw before he hammered it onto the ground as his gaze turned from angry and offended towards mocking and determined. "But first, I will break your spirit until you wish you were dead. And then, I'll grant your wish!" With that being said, he couldn't help himself but to start chuckling and move back towards the place where his own pride had settled down.

* * *

He could smell them; they were not that far away from him. He could feel that he was getting closer and closer with every step he took. And his stomach and his heart were tensed to a point where he nearly couldn't take it anymore. Nervously, Kopa set one paw before the other one as he had his head to the ground and giving away a slow mutter under his breath. The golden furred male glanced upwards and stared upwards towards the crown of the trees and the sun shining through them.

"This really looks a lot different like the jungle we lived for years." He could hear Konde mentioning beside him. The leopard himself kept staring at the landscape around them as he saw how it looked a lot more friendly and safer as the wood the trio of carnivores had found themselves surrounded by for most of Kopa's ife.

Kopa brought his muzzle to the ground and sniffed it once again searching for the direction he would get to his parents the fastest way. Beside him, he could feel another pair of legs stopping beside him and he felt Mwehu stopping right by and glaring down on him. His face was questioning as he brought his paw to his muzzle and pondered with a confused tone. "Now… if I were a king being on the run from my worst enemy and being close to dying, where would I hide?"

From a few yards away, the leopard Konde sat down himself before he thought about the situation as well. "Giving the location we're in, they could be probably anywhere.

And he was right. Even if Kopa could catch the scent of his parents, he was unsure of where to run to. For a moment, he thought he had it and raised his head. But then he found the trace being completely cold and tried his best to keep his mood up. He was not going to fail this close before his goal. And that was when he heard voices in the distance.

It took a while for him to find the direction where the source of the voices was coming from. But when he did, it brought a smile towards his face as he realized who the ones were that kept yelling throughout the jungle. _Those two!_ Kopa thought and turned around towards his two older friends. "Come on guys, I know where to go!"

He quickly rushed away and left Konde and Mwehu standing back staring after their young adult friend. It was then that the duo heard a shrill sound in the distance which turned out to be some hysterical laughter.

At once, the scarred lion raised his head in shock before he muttered out to himself. "Oh no! Not him!" As he spoke, Konde glared at him with confused gazes before Mwehu continued. "It's the monkey!"

The leopard shook up at once before he replied. "Wait… what monkey?"

"You'll see!" With that, he began bringing distance between himself and his black spotted friend.

Yet Konde wasn't ready to let this go. He glared after the lion with a confused look. "Uhm… Mwehu, come back here! Wait what monkey… you didn't say anything about a monkey. I HATE monkeys." He called getting louder with every word and every step that the male lion set between them before he stormed after him.

_[far away]_

"Y'know Pumbaa, when I actually talked about me wanting to share my snail stock with ya'. I didn't expect ya to eat them all by yourself." Timon said with a frown as he had his hand pressed into his hips. The meerkat glared up to the red warthog and tried his best to stare into his friends face.

Yet the red colored animal nervously moved his left front leg over the ground and having his ears hanging flat to his head in an excusing way. "Well uhm Timon, I uhm… actually didn't mean to… I was just…" He tried to apologize but the male meerkat already threw his arms around turning away from him and knotting his arms together.

To the side of the two, the old mandrill Rafiki sat on a boulder just beside the waterfall where Simba and Nala kept hiding behind in a cave. He had settled down cross-legged and held his eyes closed as he seem to meditate even with the noise coming from the other two animals able to disturb any kind of calmness around.

Yet he suddenly stopped as he could sense someone approaching from the distance. The mandrill slowly opened one of his eyes and stared into the distance before he could see a figure appearing in the line of trees. Timon and Pumbaa stopped their argument for a short moment as they themselves stared at the figure appearing in the clearing directly beside the waterfall. All three of them locked their eyes onto the male lion standing a few feet away and glaring at them with a half sorry and half enthusiastic ways.

Rafiki's eyes widened and the baboon turned his gaze into a completely confused and shocked expression. But the other two on the other hand stopped right away and their eyes widened in shock before they turned around in defense as they saw the unknown lion approaching them. They both were close to screaming as another male lion came into the place followed by a full grown male leopard.

Again, the face of Rafiki went wide as he made contact with the scarred lion stopping a few yards away from them. Konde's eyebrows rose at once and he could nearly see his jaw dropping to the ground. "Uhm, Mwehu… do you see what I see?" He asked confused as he saw the strange sight in front of them.

"Oh yes… bacon!" Mwehu called from the side and they both could see Pumbaa jerking his head up in shock as he screamed out a long _WHAT!_

But right away, Kopa was right in their faces and slapping both of them across the face. "Those two are not for dinner!" He called angrily and turned back around to the group of animals of which the warthog and the meerkat got ready to run away from the group. Only Rafiki was waiting for the young looking golden furred male to come closer and smiled gladly at them. "What's up guys?" Kopa called out to them bringing his head onto the meerkat's level.

Feeling that this lion could be here to kill Simba, Timon quickly formed his hand into fists and raised them moving around like a boxer. "Alright fellow, come here if y want some!" He said jumping around like Muhammed Ali before Kopa and laughed out loud.

Yet the supposed to be dead prince laughed out loud and clapped his paw onto the ground in delight. "Relax uncle Timon! I'm here to help." He said and he could already see the color inside his father's oldest friends fading and Pumbaa throwing back and forth between Kopa and Timon. The words coming from the lions muzzle caught the meerkat and the warthog completely by surprise as they exchanged glances. Again Kopa was amused and even started to chuckle. "Pumbaa it's me… Kopa!"

Like a train hitting a car, Pumbaa and Timon got hit by the revelation and just continued to stare at the young male in front of them. They both walked back and forth as they observed him carefully, and that was when they realized and their faces turned into broad smiles as well. "KOPA!" Both called out and Timon jumped upwards into the brown mane before rubbing his knuckles through the hair of the male lion. Pumbaa bumped his head into the side of the prince as they laughed out loud together.

"But how in the world…?" Timon began extracting his arms as Kopa had calmed down hugging both of them. After he pulled away, he found Rafiki walking up to him and pulling the young adult into a warm hug himself. In the back, Mwehu as well as Konde just decided to go along with the program and sit down in the big circle.

It took a while before the golden male began bringing his face into a stern expression interrupting all the questions that Pumbaa and Timon kept throwing towards him. _"But how did you survive? Why didn't you come back? What's up with the hideous guy with you?" _He simply scratched his paws over the ground before getting to his paws. "Timon! I have other things to address right now." He turned right away towards the mandrill. "Where are they?" He asked silent and weak as Rafiki smiled over at him and pointed towards the small pathway beside the waterfall.

Konde nudged his lion friend into the side before he spoke out to him. "I'll go climbing the tree tops and some little recon. See if we have some uninvited guests around here!" As Mwehu gave him a nod, he quickly moved along to a trunk before climbing a tree.

Kopa's gaze fell flat to his head as he stared to the place where he would soon see his parents again. Without paying attention towards his surroundings anymore, he slowly padded forward his gaze never letting off from the place beside the waterfall. Out of the sudden, he felt his paws getting heavier and heavier. But when he arrived at the pathway upwards, he stopped and suddenly was unable to move.

Yet only when he found the monkey putting one hand on his back, he found the strength to move upwards and following Rafiki upwards until they stood at the move of the cave. Kopa glared to the side as Rafiki smile and pointed with his hand to the inside. "Come on… get in!"

Kopa nodded and with a loud sigh, he entered to finally get his life and his past back in line.

* * *

**Author's note: **I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm sorry sorry sorry sorry. This is the most horrible cliffhanger I have added right now. Like I said above, the reunion of Kopa and his family has been probably the most anticipated thing for you guys. And I know that it seems like a bad move to and this chapter only seconds before it happens.

But I promise you that the scene will be worth another week of waiting.


	15. Father and son

**Reldor: **Well… your wait is over. As in matter of the queen, she really is a bad traitor. That has mostly to do with the fact that this whole sub-plot with the inner conflict of the north lands was done mostly on the fly. When I first thought about this story (even before Part 1) there was no Ubuvila, no Itshe, no Ingelozi, no Ikhaya and Ithunzi. At first it was just Isitha and his plan to take over the pride lands. But once I got closer and closer to the events. I added this and that and finally brought the screw-over part of Ikhaya and Ingelozi. The fact of Ingozi being betrayed like that actually came from the first season of "Game of Thrones". I don't want to spoil, but it was a really god ending to a Season. It tried to put some input from that into this whole sub-plot.

**Starzinmyeyez: **Thanks for the wishes. Like I said, the ait is finally over.

**LionKingFactsGuy2: **Oooookkkaaaaay! Hope that doesn't mean that you are abandoning this! :D

But enough with the screwing around. Let's dig right into.

* * *

Chapter 15: father and son

Kopa stepped inside and stared into the dark of the cave (even though that was no problem for a lion). His heart and his body stopped at once at the sight that he saw on the ground in the corner of the cave. The two bundles of fur lied on the ground indicating themselves as two lions having their faces turned away from the other figures entering the shelter. One of them was cream colored and the other was golden furred. Kopa didn't dare to say anything as he watched the calm and resting figures of his parents. And that was when he felt Rafiki stopping at his side and glaring towards Simba and Nala.

It was in that moment that the young male lion realized that his mother wasn't sleeping; she was just sobbing and rested her head on the side of the male lion at her side. Rafiki cleared his throat and spoke out at once. "My queen! Dere's somethin' yu' hav' to see."

The cream furred lioness brought her head slightly up without facing the duo. "Please Rafiki, can't this wait!" She slowly shook her head and put one of her paws down from her mate's belly. "For once, I managed to bring him to his sleep. And I would love to keep it that way." She tilted her head to the side and Kopa could finally see a slight glimpse of her face. He could already tell that her face was torn up slightly.

"But I dink' dis' will be of most interest to yu'!" Rafiki answered with his face still turned to a smile.

Finally and slowly, Nala turned around. "Okay, but I warn you! This better be…" A loud gasp escaped her muzzle as she caught sight of who was standing in the mouth of the den. Her eyes went as wide as they had never been before. Within a single second, she was on her paws and stared at the male lion a few yards away from them. Her jaw was close to falling to the ground and she kept slowly but unsteady moving forward. "No!" Was all she said taking another step forward. "B… b-but!"

Kopa for his part was as uneasy as it could get, all the confidence he felt moments ago was gone. He wanted to collapse right into the warm embrace he enjoyed so much when he was a cub. Slowly, he thought about what to say to the creamy lioness approaching him from her place of the cave. Yet he didn't get it. Was she already aware of who he was? But he didn't get any further as the cream female grabbed his head with her paws and moved her paw through his mane. At first he wasn't aware of what the former queen was searching. But when she stopped, he realized.

Another gasp escaped the female, as she found what she was looking for. That little mark on the top of his head that was shaped like a heart. Her face was filled with tears as she glared at him before she called out. "My-my baby!" Her voice was silent and weak as she nearly cried at him with her questions. She moved her paws all over his ace until she came to a halt at his right cheek and the wounds the golden lion received years ago. "You… you are… back!"

"How did you know?"

Nala was close to collapsing on the spot, but she quickly recovered and almost laughed slightly while rubbing him through his mane. "I gave birth to you; I spent almost four weeks with you alone in that cave. Do you _honestly _think that I don't know the sights of my baby?" In that moment, she narrowed her eyebrows and faced her son with a worried face. "But, but how… why?"

Her son didn't have to be a genius to understand what she meant. Panic reached his mind and he tried his best to get himself in order. "I-I… I'm sorry. It's just that… Zira…and… and grandma." He began to cry like a cub as he tried to explain nearly everything at once. "I… got scared… and then I fell… and I… and I feel so sorry… so sorry. I didn't mean to…"

But that was when he stopped as Nala threw herself at him and wrapped her front legs around the male lion. Just like Nala before, Kopa buried his face in her shoulder as he sobbed into her fur. Neither one said anything while Rafiki decided to leave and let the family celebrate their newfound reunion. But neither Kopa nor Nala paid any attention to that as the young adult kept sobbing. "I'm so sorry mom! I- I love you!" he simply said as he slowly pulled away even though he didn't want to.

"There's no need to apologize. We love; we always have and always will… love you!" She simply said as she departed from him. As sudden thought reached the top of her mind and she stared at her son with curious eyes. "How much do you know?" It was now that she was able to think straight again and tried to put together the fact that her long lost son has returned into her life in this moment,

The golden prince turned his face down and eyed towards the ground before he sighed. "I know everything I need to know." His gaze again wandered over to his father still lying motionless on the ground. "How is he doing?" He requested with a silent and heavy voice before he stepped beside the former queen who had turned around.

He didn't have to look to see the sad expression of Nala as she answered. "Not well, he's heading towards the end Kopa. And there's nothing I can do about it!" She couldn't hide her frustration as she walked closer to her husband. "Rafiki says that there's still one thing he can try. But he said that that is having nearly no chance of success." She turned around towards her son. "I'm going to wake him up." She began to walk over to Simba as Kopa snapped his muzzle open at once.

"I don't want him to be interrupted in his sleep, he's going to need everything second of it." He said with a slight panic in his voice until he was cut off by Nala right away.

The glare in the lioness's eyes gave away the fact that she couldn't believe anything what the younger male was saying. "Are you kidding, this will be the happiest moment for him ever since… well since you vanished." Her ears fell flat to the side and she brought her head down to nudge the male lion on the ground. "Simba! Simba wake up… there's something you have to see."

Her face had turned into a loving and gentle smile before she moved slightly back and saw the old king shifting in his position. Slowly, the former king got his head up and stared into the aqua eyes of his mate. Nala quickly licked him on his cheek, as she slowly turned her eyes to the side. It was a motion that made Simba turn his head to the side and Kopa had to gulp. The former king's eyes met the aqua ones of his son and the prince could see how weak his father had become.

It took Simba nearly a full minute until he realized who he was staring at. He shook his head again before his eyes went wide as they never had been and his mouth nearly fell out of his mounting. As quickly as he had never been over the last months, he got to his feet and stared at the lion that was obviously his first born cub. "Wha-wha… but… K-Kopa… _partner?"_ He said and the younger male nodded his head slowly. _He's it! _The former king said and he felt the sudden need to walk forth and embrace him as gentle and warm as he had never done before. But in the last moment, he hesitated and turned his gaze away from his son.

Kopa stared at the sight of that lion that once seemed to be the biggest male that was living in the pride lands. Even though Kopa has always been a bit small, compared with his father, he looked as strong as he could get. The face of the king was tired and drawn out. He didn't quite get what was taking Simba away from him, but he didn't care and raced forward to jump at his father.

"Kopa… NO!" Nala called as she thought about how contagious Simba was.

But the prince didn't listen and jumped at the older one before throwing them both over as they rolled over the ground. Though Nala didn't agree with that motion, she couldn't resist a smile and a laugh to appear on her face. Kopa buried his face into Simba's face as well as he called out through various laughter of happiness. "DAD!"

"Partner!" Simba replied as he wrapped his front legs around the head of the younger male. They stopped short after and moved away from each other until they sat only inches away from each other. "But… but y… you were dead!? What happened?" he asked completely out of breath and as excited as he had never been before.

Kopa glanced back and forth between his mother and his father as he saw that it was time to tell them the whole story. "That is a long story!" With another move forward, he flipped is father over as he lied on top of him while rubbing his head against his chest. "I'm so sorry." He simply whispered into his ear and swiped away another tear.

Again, Simba smiled at his son before he laid his front leg on the back of the younger male. "No Kopa, I'm sorry!"

Beside them, Nala felt had her own trouble to fight back tears before she raised her head to stare at the ceiling of the cave, or at the sky to be exact. _Thank you, thank you all for this._

* * *

The news of Kovu and Vitani being called to a meeting in the middle of the night with the king of the north lands named Ingelozi didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the pride. As the next morning came, the whole pride waited for the acting king and queen to come out and tell them what happened the other night. Slowly, the dark brown male and the golden/cream lioness Kiara walked out of the den and into the sunlight of the pride lands where Tama, Malka and the other elder lionesses and lions kept waiting. They were followed by Vitani as they entered the circle the rest of the pride had built at the feet of pride rock.

To all the lions waiting, it was a surprise to see the daughter of Simba and Nala being back around the place and not anymore in the miserable condition she had been ever since the invasion had begun. Now, the acting queen had a determined expression on her face as the duo moved into the middle of them.

"What did he want?" Was the first question coming from the tarnish/orange lioness as she spoke out to them with a stern and angry voice.

Kovu and Kiara as well as Vitani glanced at each other before Kovu sighed and glared into the group. "The only thing he gave us was a last offer, if we want to survive; we have the choice to either flee the kingdom… or bow down to him and except him as our ruler." Zira's son replied shifting his head from side to side and staring at anybody in the circle.

Growls came from the rest of the group and Tojo as well as Malka stepped forward before the pale orange lion opened his muzzle. "Is he nuts, does he really think that we are going to lie down and give the kingdom away to them?" He exclaimed staring directly into the eyes of the young dark brown male. "Wow, is he on the wrong path!"

Before he or Kovu or even Tojo could say any other word. They got surprised by Kiara padding forth and raising her head to look at the pride around them. "I am _not_ going to give the kingdom of my parents away that easily. If he wants to bring us to our defeat, then he has to do by force." She said with a freshly won bravery and determination as she raised her voice even more.

"Now you're talking!" Vitani called and growled towards the sky bringing her head up and even roared a little.

The two lionesses now stood together as they glared around into the other faces. But that was when they saw a few figures in the back moving back from the lionesses at pride rock. Immediately, Vitani and Malka threw their eyes on them and moved forth. Before they could go on, Tama walked into their front and stared over at the group. "And where do you think you are going?!" Her voice was stern and she moved past the lioness and lions staring at them.

It was a group of about six lionesses. Their still drawn out coats and their black hilled indicated them as being former outsiders. Vitani and Niyani alongside Tojo were on the edge at once as the tan colored lioness in the front stepped forwards herself. "What do you think this is? We're going to take that advice and leave." She said with a frustrated and even submitting voice as she held the stare of the pale caramel female beside her.

"You're abandoning us? Your pride and your kingdom?" She said herself with her gaze locking on to the lioness that had been one of her mother's friends.

Tojo's mate was furious at the thought that the rats were going to abandon the sinking ships. She roughly walked up until they were only inches away from the one in front. But the former outlander quickly threw her head back and looked around. "What do you expect us to do? Fight here until the end? There's no chance of us to win this fight. We are starving, and the northlanders are healthy and well fed. There's no chance of us to win a fair fight."

In the back, the rage inside Vitani and Kovu got bigger and bigger as she saw the lioness that they grew up with being close to moving out of their new home. "After all what Simba, Nala and the pridelanders have done for us. You just pull run away with your tails between your legs." The tan female was furious and snarled again.

"Vitani!" The lioness answered again. "Can't you see it, there is nothing to gain in this fight. We can't win, the best thing is to start over somewhere safe."

But the moment, she had finished her words. Kovu's sister got back in and found herself joined by her brother, Spotty and Dotty. "I can't believe I'm hearing this. I can't believe what you are doing!" She slowly faced the ground before shaking her head and then raising her head up again. "NO!" She said determined before getting angry again. "I already lost a home that got taken away from me. And I already got rid of a false home. I am NOT going to allow that! We will stay here and fight." With that, she turned around and looked into the eyes of her sister-in-law.

Yet then again, the group of six lionesses stared at each other before they continued on their way away from pride rock. The ones that stayed behind growled at them and even a few gave them a quick snap with their teeth. Niyani and Tojo tried to walk a few feet after them but didn't try to bother as the group disappeared in the distance.

Astonish and offences were written in the eyes of the lionesses before they had to listen to a giggle appearing from the back. They slowly turned around and stared at the pale caramel lioness named Naima who was trying to hold back a laugh that seemed cold and distant. Even though, she earned angry glares and even threatening gestures from her parents, she started to speak up. "You know, you can't actually blame them." She said and Vitani as well as Kovu and Kiara began to frown.

"What the hell is your problem?" Vitani snapped as she walked forth and threw daggers right into the eyes of Niyani's daughter.

The two lionesses had been on each other's nerves before. But this time, it was serious. "MY problem is that they have a point. We can't win a fight with those northlanders. They have successfully invaded our pride and drove our king and queen out of our kingdom. We are prisoners in our own home and we are starving." She tilted her head to the side and stared over at her brother in the distance. "And that is part his fault."

It didn't take a second before Vitani had rammed her head into her side and she tumbled over a bit. Before the tan female could get at her once more, Kiara jumped to her side and tried to calm the situation down again. "Calm down Vitani." She laid her paw on the tan female before turning around at the still beaten up pale caramel lioness. "Naima, I know that you won't follow Kovu into battle… but will you at least follow me, for the sake of the pride."

Her voice was urging and she tried her best not to make her cubhood friend even more upset. Yet Naima stared right back up and rushed forward throwing her claws at Vitani. The two were fiercely growling at each other while trying to bite each other. The rest of the pride just stared at them in astonishment but didn't dare to interfere in the fight going on.

Only as Kiara had enough and jumped in between and smacked the pale caramel female across the cheek and send her flying to the ground. Naima stared up at the acting queen in shock and disappointment. "You… you're siding with them?! I thought we are friends." She said in bitterness before trying to get back up.

Kiara kept glaring at her with a heavy heart thinking if she had gone too far. "We _are _friends! And that's why I can't afford or pride to be anymore divided." She said and brought her head down trying to rub her forehead against hers. But Naima pulled away from her. "And I am asking you again, at least follow me and Kovu for the sake of our families."

Shaking her head and getting back on her paws, she stared at the royal couple. "I will… but if _he's_ going to be our king, I'm out of here." She felt Kivuli and a group of five other lionesses stepping beside her and nodding in agreement. "Sorry Kiara, but we will never follow someone that probably has the safety of the kingdom slip through his paws." With that, the group walked and the rest of the pride dividing only leaving Kiara, Kovu, Tama, Niyani and their mates staying behind.

Simba's daughter let her ears drop in disappointment as she felt Zazu and Kicho landing right beside her before each one of them put a wing on her front paw. She stared down on them before she eyed the blue hornbill again. "Zazu, it's now or never. There's only one place where we haven't looked yet. I want you to find my cubs, as well as Nuru and Mto, we're going to need every lion we can get."

Without saying a word, the major-domo spread his wings and flew into the ground as he flew right over the tree tops having his eyes wandering sharply over the ground. He wasn't that long gone as the cream/golden female broke down again and buried her head into the fur of Kovu as their newfound pride and determination had been washed away with recent events.

* * *

"So! That's how Zira ended?" Kopa half asked as he heard the story about hoe Vitani's and Kovu's mother had been defeated after all those years. His parents lied just in front of him and he observed them carefully. "Come to think about it that her cubs turned out to be so nice, it is unbelievable that she became such a monster."

Both his parents listened to his son with such joy, never in their life would they have believed that they would see their son full grown and in such good shape again. "She took away one of our dearest things. And I could never forgive her for that." Simba said just smiling back on the younger lion. "Although I find your story about growing up along a flirting leopard and a trigger happy lion even more unbelievable."

Again, the young prince chuckled and stared to the side. "Once you get to know those two, they really start growing on you." He replied shaking his head for a few moments before his face went stern again. "Speaking of growing up…" He paused for as short moment and his face became sad as he continued. "What is… _she_ like?"

The question was completely expected from Nala and Simba, they knew that their son was eager to find out about his sister as soon as possible. Nala made short eye contact with Simba before she answered to her son as well. "You and she would really get along. She has just the same sense for adventuring as you. And she doesn't know when to hold back herself."

Kopa giggled a bit until before he stared up at his mother giving her an unsettling look. Simba cleared his throat before he spoke up again. "So… anything else that you forgot to mention to us?" His face turned into a sly smirk and Kopa begun to glare to the side.

"What are you getting at dad? What did I forget?"

The smirk on his face got even wider as he raised his eyebrows. "Well is there… something… or _someone_… that we should know about?"

You know the feeling when you taking a drink and somebody tells something really shocking and you have to spill the liquid? If Kopa would have taken a drink in that moment, he would have not only spilled it… he would have sprayed the stuff all over the floor. He quickly tried to catch his breath as he countered with a smirk of himself. "Daaad! I barely got back in your life and you are asking me out about me having a girlfriend. As if there wasn't already enough for me to worry about." He countered and he could see Simba putting his paws in front of him.

All three lions laughed a little with Kopa feeling the warmth in his heart as heard the voices of his parents reaching his ear. But after that, none of them spoke any other word with the three just staring at each other. Short after, Nala got to her paws and began padding towards the opening of the cave.

"Where are you going?" Simba asked right away seeing his mate leaving the scene.

The former queen turned around with a smile and stared back at him. "I'm going to leave you two alone, you have a lot more to discuss than I do. I'm going to have a chat with Scarface."

Kopa frowned at the words of the creamy lioness and the way she called her friend. But he didn't dare to argue with his mother right now. It didn't take long and Kopa was lying inside the den alone with his father. Both males tried to avoid each other's gazes for a moment as both could feel the awkwardness that lied in the air due to Simba's condition.

"So uhm…" The former king started. "I guess you're already aware of what is going on with me!" He started waiting for the response that his son had to give on that. His son just nodded and Simba turned his head away again. "It's a shame you know. All these years, I thought I lost you, and now that I finally found, I don't have the time left to enjoy it enough."

Once again, Kopa let his head hung as he felt the guilt of his own stupidity, as he would put it, rise again. "I'm sorry dad, if I wouldn't…"

"Kopa! _Please_ stop apologizing. We both have gotten mislead by our emotions that night. This hot headedness kinda runs in this family." The former king added as he couldn't hold back a chuckle. "Not to mention that Zira had the intendancy to strike anyway, it just would have been a different day."

For a short moment, the aqua eyed lion thought about the tarnish lioness again and another question came up to his mind. "So how did Vitani take the fact of her mother being this evil?"

The moment he said those words, he wished he didn't. At once there was this mischievous and sly blinking in his father's eyes which he could would from a plan to use his own words against him. "Well… when I think about, the fact of your disappearance hurt her even more to this day." Simba answered and again waited for the reaction of his son with one eyebrow raised and his head turned to the side.

But the younger male felt it would be the best to not respond and just go along keep it to himself. The moment Simba realized that, he decided to change the subject again and stared to the outside. "So those two are the ones that are going to help you win the war with the northlander?" he started to ask getting the focus back on the fight that was waiting for the young male.

"Yes!" Kopa simply answered and stared to the side.

"What are you going to do once you get back home and you actually win?"

That was ultimate question that Kopa kept asking himself over the last hours and days. What was he going to do? When it came to the bottom line, he still was the king. But on the other side there were Kiara and Kovu being around the pride for so long that they would have actually be the right choices for the king. Yet again, Ulwazi to him short before he and his friends went along that the pridelanders were still not willing to follow a former outlander. "When the time comes, I will do whatever the kingdom will need me to do." He said and tried to be as vague as possible to buy him some time on the real answer.

Simba nodded shortly before he spoke out to Kopa again. "Sure you will, but promise me one thing Kopa." The younger golden male nodded again. "Should there be any sign of disagreement between you and your sister about the ruler of the kingdom. Please step down and leav no bad blood behind, I've seen enough sibling rivalry for a title."

Now that was something that his father and his mother could count on. His family had suffered far too long in the past. And he was going to end that forever.

* * *

"I warn you monkey. If you screw this up, I'll be coming for you." The pale cream male said as he lied on the ground while the old mandrill kept treating the wound on Mwehu's shoulder. Once in a while he cringed in pain before he relaxed and rested his head on the ground again.

Rafiki half ignored that and continued on his work. "It's good to see dat' yu' haven't changed over de last years." He answered calmly without facing the lion close to his hands. The duo's greeting after years since they had last seen each other had been unspectacular and nothing like the royals that still laid inside the cave.

_Mwehu walked up to the old monkey as he continued to rub the back of his head. He tried his best to avoid the gazes of the animal in who's home he had stayed for the years of his cubhood._ _"Oh uhm… this seems really awkward." He said nervously before the mandrill just answered by pulling the maneless lion into a hug. Even if Mwehu felt annoyed by the action coming from the old baboon, he just left it to be and kept calm in his embrace._

And now, the two shared the only moments together with each other for years. But then again, they barely exchanged glances and words until they heard a pair of paws coming towards them and stopping right in front of the scarred feline and the primate. "Off all the lions that would have been there to kill my son, it was you who was going to save him." They heard Nala calling and Mwehu glared upwards at the female.

"Hello your highness!" He simply replied in a sarcastic way before getting to his paws with a last look towards the old baboon.

Nala kept smiling at him as the two were now staring right at each other as she began talking. "You don't have to name me that." She began seeing as how she neither was a queen but was in his dept. "I… I just came out to thank you." Nala continued and inhaled deeply. "Kopa told me that you were the one that saved him."

Though there was no chance for the scarred lion to be flattered, he let the small edges of his muzzle slightly go up. "Yeah, one could say that. The kid just fell into my house and since then never went back out." He didn't really face the lioness again and just continued to wander around.

The former queen followed him slowly while Mwehu tried to test his shoulder. "I hope you realize what you did to Simba and me. He has never forgiven himself for losing Kopa." She didn't knew if what she was about to do was a good move; but she quickly went forth and rubbed her head against the cheek of the male who pulled away really quickly. "That was also a late thank you for saving my mother."

Mwehu knew that he didn't really save her as more just running in on the scene for his own interest. Years ago, an intervention of Mwehu distracted Scar from putting the moves on Sarafina. "if you think that's what it's called like." He answered dryly raising his head towards the cave. "That brings me to the question. I thought you said you weren't his girlfriend."

Nala chuckled before she walked back to the cave and looking back to the maneless male. "Oh, I haven't been… not since our wedding. Do you want to talk to him too?"

For a moment, Mwehu thought about walking back under a tree and lying back down until it was time to go. But there was a slight curiosity inside him that wanted to have a look on the former king and in what shape he was. Slowly, he followed the cream female to the entrance and went straight in.

Down on the ground in front of them laid Simba and Kopa laughing together before the older golden furred lion looked up and stared at the scarred one. Mwehu jerked his head a little bit and spoke out. "Wow, you look like crap!" He simply spelled out with Kopa getting a bit upset at the way how his pal was talking to his father.

"I have to give the compliment back to you!" he simply replied with a laugh of his own. "However, I'm glad that you actually took my advice from years ago." He decided to continue the argument with Mwehu further. "I'm even more surprised that after all those years of fighting; you were able to let someone else beside yourself into your life."

Nala shifted her gaze from one lion to the other as Kopa glared whimsical to the side and into the front towards his parents. He was anxious to hear what his longtime friend was going to answer to that. The scarred male at his side just scratched his back with his leg before he rammed his right front paw into the side of the young prince which forced Kopa to swing to the side before replying.

"Yeah, when I look back; I should have thought twice about bringing the little troublemaker with me. That little fellow caused enough bones to break already. I guess it's about time I slow down at that." Even Simba's son was surprised how calm and relaxed the scarred lion was acting while showing a strangely playful mood. "And thinking about the right time… I don't want to be the party pooper but… we should get going Kid. I don't want to come late to my own funeral."

His words struck the reunited family out of their newfound joys. Kopa knew as well what that meant and so knew Simba and Nala. The young male turned around and glared at the older pale cream one. "What do you mean 'your own funeral'?"

Mwehu for his part stared at him with raised eyebrows almost not believing what he was hearing. "Do you honestly think we are getting out of this one alive?" His voice had a certain degree of anxiousness in itself. Something that Kopa had seen before on the scarred male lion. It were these types of situations that somehow scared him sometimes. "From what Ulwazi and Rafiki told about those northlander king dude, you won't get far with your anti-violent tactics. And you seem to forget that this is a huge pride we're opposing."

"It's not like we haven't done before. And I have beaten death quite often in the last years." Kopa simply answered remembering the events around Cif and his pride. "Besides; it's not like I didn't learn anything from you over in the jungle. I'm pretty capable to handle myself in a war. And you could be a bit more optimistic."

Yet the pale cream male sighed in frustration as he answered quickly and through gritted teeth. "Kid! You get lucky once, maybe twice… but three times is really pushing it." He got to his paws and stretched his legs again. Mwehu moved to the exit of the shelter before he turned right around and stared towards Kopa. "I'm waiting outside." With that, he marched off.

Kopa stared after him until he was gone before he sat back down with his parents. There was just too much for him to catch up with before he could go to the task he originally intended it address. He stared at the tired and old looking eyes of his father as Simba eyed him himself with a curious glare. "So… this is it hut?" He finally brought out and his voice turned strangely sad.

"I guess so." The younger adult answered and quickly got to his paws again.

Nala smiled at her son again while she walked over to her husband before licking him on the cheek. The two stared together at Kopa with her giving him some last words of encouragement. "Be careful Kopa. And good luck!"

Kopa slowly nodded his head. "Trust me; I will never even dare to disappoint you again." He got up himself before he saw the golden older male getting to his paws as well.

"What are you doing?" Nala asked a bit surprised seeing her mate moving like this for the first time in days.

Simba gave her a quick smile. "What do you think? I'm going to escort him outside. It's about time I do that." He answered and Nala gave him yet another warm and gently smile.

With that, the three royals slowly walked outside as they spotted Rafiki, Mwehu as well as Timon and Pumbaa standing down and waiting for them. They stopped in front of the group as the old mandrill looked just as surprised and confused as Nala did before. Kopa gave a quick nod to the meerkat and the warthog before he hugged Rafiki and turned around to his parents.

"I promise you, I will do anything to protect Kiara and the pride from any harm, and I will take down Ingelozi and his followers." He said before he nuzzled his mother gently. He exhaled once again as he enjoyed the company of the lioness that gave birth to him. It was then time for him to turn to the side and face his father. "Dad I…"

But the former king just smirked and put a paw on his son's shoulder. "Save it. Go get them partner!" They hugged each other and the prince threw one last smile out to the older ones before turning around with Mwehu. They slowly moved away from the group with the young male throwing back glares once in a while.

Once they were out of reach, Kopa exhaled deeply with Mwehu turning to the side and nudging him on the shoulder. "Are you alright Kid?" He asked with true concern.

"Not really! I mean, if you think about the fate of the pride lands lying in the paws of a flirting leopard Casanova, a prince that refused to fight all his live… and a lion that truly is a hard case for the nuthouse, you get the feeling that this will turn out as a suicide mission."

Mwehu almost laughed out as he capped him on the back with his paw. "Now that's the spirit!"

It was then that the duo heard a rustling above them and they stared up to see Konde lying on a tree branch and swinging his tail from side to side. "Hey guys, any place that we intend to go?" He asked with a delighted voice as he continued to stare down onto them.

"Oh nothing, just go along and opening a giant can of whoop-***! Do you want to come with us?"

"Absolutely! What's the plan?"

Mwehu stared into the sky before he answered with a nasty laugh. "Simple… kill the bad guys, save the good guys!"

Even Kopa had to laugh as the two slowly got into their fighting mood. "I love that plan, one of the best you ever had!"

The golden furred prince face palmed for a short moment before he answered the two older felines arguing with each other. "What did I drag myself into?"

* * *

Night had set over the pride lands once again. Yet it wasn't the calm type of night that usually was set in the kingdom. There was certain degree of tension in the air as all the inhabitants knew that something was in the air that would change their lives forever. Yet there was one figure that was absolutely restless as it sat on top of a small hill where he could stare right over at the huge rock formation called pride rock in the distance.

Ingelozi was mixed with feelings of disappointment, anger and frustration. Yet he didn't know why, e so9uld have known that his son and his daughter were not going to give in to his demands and surrender the prude lands to him. But the brown male lion always disliked himself being denied and disappointed. And the fact of him and his pride having to fight for pride rock after all. "I am sick of waiting. If my cubs want to have a fight, they're going to have their fight." He turned to the back and faced the other male lion standing behind him. "Gather the others and prepare them for battle."

"They are already ready for any order you can give to them my king!" Inhloli said with a bow as he switched his gaze from his king towards the former consultant of Isitha Itshe.

The duo of lions sat a few feet away from their leader as they listened to the words and the speech of Ingelozi to end. Itshe right away noticed the behavior of the brown male. It was the kind of movement that he had witnessed before. And the last time, it didn't work out as well. And so he couldn't help himself than to begin smiling. With all this happening to Ingelozi, he wasn't that far away from achieving his own goals.

But he didn't get that far in his thoughts as he saw another male slowly padding up to them and taking a bow towards the northlander king. "I have come back to report to you the results of our search." Usizu said as he finally caught the attention of Ingelozi. "But just like the rest of the days, we couldn't find the lost cubs and the lions guiding them. They know the terrain of this kingdom far too well in order for us to fins them."

Ingeozi listened carefully as he passed him and stared upwards. "Don't bother, you will never find them in their own territory. I hoped that the confusion of the first days of our attack would give us plenty of chances to catch them. But now that everything has calmed down, they can use the terrain to their advantage."

His gaze wandered over the star sprinkled night before his found something of most interest to him. Right away, his face lit u and he turned around to Usizu. "Don't bother trying to find them on your own. You will never find them. But then again, you don't have to find them yourself." He now was only inches away from the other males face before he pointed upwards with his paw.

As both of them stared up, they found a blue hornbill flying just above them in circles searching himself. Ingelozi smirked nasty and evil as he almost giggled out. "The king and the queen want their cub pack in their paws even more than you do. So all you have to do for now is… follow the bird. The bird will lead you right towards the missing members of the lost family.

"I'm already on my way my liege." Usizu bowed again and as fast as he had appeared, he was gone again.

That left Ingelozi back standing alongside Inhloli and Itshe as they still waited for the final orders of their king to come back up. "Now, as for you my dear Inhloli! Prepare the lionesses and the lions. Tomorrow at sunset, we attack pride rock full force and bring the pridelanders finally to their knees." He said and Inhloli bowed just like Usizu earlier before vanishing in the forest behind them as well.

Itshe for his part walked just beside the king himself as their gazes never met with both of them looking into the distance upwards at the moon. "How often have I dreamed of this day, the pride lands finally in my paws and I am the one being the ruler of everything. I can already smell the scent of victory."

_Scent of victory? He really seems like losing it! _"Whatever you say my king!" He simply said trying to hide his mocking and slimy grin.

* * *

**Author's note: **Okay, we made it through 47 Chapter of this story and I never really needed my characters to swear. I mean besides saying "Hell, damn and crap." But this time, I couldn't. That term is just to good. Sorry for that.


	16. Back to the hood

Hey guys!

I welcome you again to another chapter of my story. We're now on the final straight with only three chapters left after this one. And after we had the the reunion in the last chapter, this time we cover the return of Kopa into the pride lands.

**Starzinmyeyez: **Thanks a lot. At this point, there aren't that many options left for Vitani and Kiara, they just have to keep fighting for now.

**Reldor: **Than you too. I really like writing Mwehu. He's a chance for me to cut loose a little bit and get completely over the top. Though I regret a little bit that I didn't make him as dumb as I intended him to be.

**LionKingFactsGuy2: **When writing and planning this chapter, I felt also exited because this is going to be a lot of fun. Especially seeing our three friends working together like they're about to.

* * *

Chapter 16: back to the hood

Dawn!

The first glimpses of the sun rising in the distance shined down on the pride lights with its golden light. Fog laid on the grassy fields and of this kingdom which had become a battleground over the last weeks. Slowly, the animals of the kingdom came out of their sleeping places to be greeted by the warm sunlight. Right from the start, the kingdom could feel that there was a strange tension in the air as they could feel something big was going to happen pretty soon.

It was another day for the major-domo of the great kings to go ahead and fulfill his duty. For generations, Zazu had served the Simba and his ancestors with pleasure and dignity. And he did it well. And even though the time that was left for him as their servant was limited, he was willing and ready for one last task that was ordered from him from the acting king and queen.

He was anxious to finally find the lost cubs of Kiara and Kovu and was willing to not disappoint them. The blue hornbill was often called to watch over the young cubs of the pride before. And so he was getting used to be forced to play hide and seek with cubs that wanted to get out of his sight way too often. And so was it quite often with the cubs Nuru and Mto that kept trying to squeeze away from him.

Yet Zazu knew where he these two were hiding back in the time they were cubs. And he was almost sure that he would find them in that place as well. It was something that made him even more frustrated of the fact that he didn't thought about it before. By now, Zazu was flying just above a small forest directly underneath him. It was full of small bushes, little rock and small dens where one could easily hide and no one was aware of how to find them in there. He smiled to himself as he set course to fly right through the tree crowns and get a better view.

However, what the bird didn't calculate on was the group of lions that were also following from a safe distance hiding behind rocks and bushed to not get caught by the hornbill flying above.

_[Not that far away!]_

Nuru lay on her side as she stared down on the two small cubs lying at her side. She was glad that the two were finally able to sleep in a peaceful way. It was something she had never seen over the last weeks. Slowly her gaze wandered from the golden female cub to the dark brown who had his front legs wrapped around his sister. There was no way she was going to break those two out of their slumber.

But that was when she heard movement in the back and short after saw a dark ochre male lion stepping up to the group at the ground. "Here… this is all I could gather." Mto said as he dropped spare parts of a dead Zebra in front of her. "It's still not safe to hunt. They are still out there." He continued rubbing his head against the orange female.

"I'm going to wait until they are awake so they can catch some food again." Nuru answered as she watched Mto settling down in front of her.

The dark ochre one glared at her with all the love he could offer. Right after that, he led his eyes down on the two cubs giving them glares of sorrow. "It must be really hard for them; they must be missing their parents like hell. I hope our own cub doesn't have to go through something similar." With that, he pointed at the female's stomach and nudged it with his paw. "Anyway, how are you doing?"

Nuru chuckled slightly trying to avoid Chaka and Shani from waking up. "I'll manage, but I would be glad if we could bring them back to pride rock."

Yet before she could say anything else. Another figure appeared above them as it let out a relieved call. Both Nuru and Mto stared upwards and their faces relaxed as they realized that it was just Zazu calling out to them. "Oh thank the great kings I found you!" The major-domo said as he came flying down to them just as Shani and Chaka started to wake up.

Zazu landed in front of the orange lioness throwing his wings around her nose before he got greeted by the two cubs. "I finally found you, Kiara and Kovu will be so relieved." He added but couldn't go on as Shani started to yell out as well.

"Mommy and daddy! Where are they? What is going on? Are the bad lions gone?" She asked in a panicked voice.

The questions were simply hammering in on the blue hornbill who found it difficult to even answer to one. But he quickly got help as Nuru shoved the golden furred female away from Zazu before she brought her head closer to him. "Give him some space!" She said gently and the major-domo could at least relax for a moment. "We know that Simba and Nala have left, but how is the pride doing?" her voice was calm and relaxed as she was anxious to hear what Zazu had to report to the group of lions.

It was in that moment that Zazu let his head hung before he answered. "It is not good, the northlanders had cut them off from food. And besides, Naima and Kivuli are angry at Kovu that he couldn't stop Ingelozi from taking over the kingdom. I have to get back to pride rock and inform them that I have found you."

Both Chaka and Shani were really excited to hear the news of them getting back together with their parents. They were so overfilled with joy that they didn't really pay attention with the rest of the news that the blue hornbill had to report to them. Yet they couldn't get any further.

"You're right in one point little birdie! They will be reunited with their parents. But that will be on our turns." A voice sounded from the back and broke the five out of their newfound joy. They all stared to the side where they found Usizu and the rest of his group coming into view and smirked at them evil.

All the color left the face of Zazu as well as Nuru and Mto. The major-domo almost punched himself from the inside knowing that they somehow had followed him here. He quickly let his head bow again as he realized what he accidently did. Nuru quickly laid a paw on him to comfort Zazu while Mto stepped in front of the cubs to protect them. "If you come anymore closer, I'm going to end you!"

But the northlander just smirked as he and his crew closed in on the group. The smirks and amused growls coming from the lions and lionesses really gave the acting queen's cubs the creeps as they stayed behind Mto shivering through their whole body. "Don't be a fool; just hand the cubs over to me." Usizu made another step closer to Tojo's son with Mto shifting his gaze from the northlanders down to Shani and Chaka and back.

Within seconds, the dark ochre pridelander threw himself at Usizu and another male as all three rolled over the ground away from the cubs. Nuru was about to be jumped by two other lionesses but quickly dived underneath as the two hit each other head first. Zazu set flight and jumped with his feet directly at the eyes of yet another female.

"RUN!" Mto yelled at the young lions with both of them reacting right away. Chaka tried to lead Shani away from the scene as they could see another male coming from behind and getting a grasp on Kiara's daughter. Kovu's son stared back immediately as his face filled with horror seeing his sister getting picked up by the male. Before he could react, he saw the lion reaching to out as well before Mto came rushing in and ramming the male on the side. "RUN CHAKA! RUN!" Mto called just in time before he got smacked on the head.

* * *

For the first time in years, Kopa finally set a foot back into the place of his birth. He could feel the air of the pride lands again. And he also could hear the smell of home reaching his nose again. The unlikely trio found themselves on the top of a small mountain where they could observes a huge part of the landscape lying to their feet. The golden furred prince stared around the kingdom that was once supposed to be his and that he had come back into to make it his again. _It hasn't changed that much from when I was here last time. _He thought and took a slight glance to the side to the scarred male lion at his right.

Mwehu himself was a bit taken aback by the sight of the kingdom where he spent his youth in. It wasn't like he was getting sentimental and sorrowful of the past. But he quickly washed the thoughts away and stared at the other animals beside him. "Well…" his gaze locked on Kopa beside him. "You ready to do this?" He asked before he raised his head towards the sky. It was a question that Simba's son only answered with a slight nod.

For quite some time, nobody said anything until Konde raised his head and sniffed the air. "Did we already drag the attention of the welcome committee?" The leopard added as he turned around and looked at the rest. "I knew that there was something fishy going on. We're being followed." He remarked and Kop just like Mwehu was on his edges.

He sniffed the air as well and his body relaxed after a short moment. "That's Yaki! And Taikamu is with her." He said with Mwehu and Konde throwing confused glares at him. Noticing how the duo was gazing over to him. The golden male shrugged his shoulders before answering. "I told them that we were going to the pride lands before we left for the desert. I didn't expect them to follow us. Guess they must have taken the tour themselves and caught our scent the moment we stepped out of the gorge."

Both older felines had their eyes growing wide before the leopard spoke out to him. "Man! That lioness is really nuts about you!" He said and Kopa would have blushed if he could. "Why you two didn't end up together?"

Kopa didn't respond directly as he once again thought about what the lioness from the valley pride was willing to do for him even though he rejected her long time ago. "First of all, I have other things to worry about than that. My family needs me." He continued to stare around and then finally found the huge rock in the distance. _Pride Rock! Hold on guys, I'm coming!"_

"Look at that!"

Konde then pointed out as they could see a small figure running away from a small forest to their right. The golden prince turned around and walked to the side of his friend. Immediately, they could make the figure out to be a small lion cub being scared to death. Even though, Kopa had never seen this one before, he could tell that this cub was in grave danger. And he was not disappointed as he saw a group of two male lions and two females running after it.

Both his friends caught this as well and Mwehu right away brought his muzzle closer to the prince. "Anyone you recognize?" he asked right and could feel the male beside him filling up with anger.

"No! But nobody of my pride would hunt after a single cub like that." He said and growled. "After them!" With that, Kopa stormed off into the direction of the lions and the cub.

Chaka was breathing heavy, he may had a huge head start on the strange lions, but what chance did a cub have from outrunning adult females and males. The only chance for him to get away was to find a place to hide or a place where they couldn't reach him. He glanced to the side and found the solution. A tree was not far away from him on the left and Chaka right away into its direction. He could already hear the growls and roars from the adults after him as he started climbing the tree.

It didn't take long and the group of northlanders stopped underneath the shivering prince as Usizu and another male stared up at the cub with laughter coming from the leader of the group. "You're not playing be the rules my young friend. Prey does not climb trees." Laughter escaped the others and Chaka grabbed on tight to the branch he was holding on to. "Maybe he thinks he's a leopard. Should we get him out of his dreams?" The northlander continued staring upwards. "Bring him down!"

With a short nod, one of the lionesses began climbing the tree and Chak choked on his own words while being unable to move. He stared directly into the nasty eyes of the female reaching out to him and the prince didn't even dare to swing his tiny paw at her.

"HOLD!" A voice came from behind and all the lionesses turned around to find someone staring at them that they had not seen before. Kopa for his part had a strange smile on his face as he kept padding around slowly in front of them. "Now tell me, which creature is so dangerous that it has to be hunted by four adult lions?" He added with a slight notion of sarcasm.

"Get lost; this isn't of your concern."

But Kopa kept talking without any form of irritation. "Did we hunt the black lion himself onto the tree? Let me take a look!" He stared up and made eye contact with the cub giving him a short encouraging smile. "A little cub; a really dangerous animal." The male said the last words with words with a slight laughter.

"This _little cub _is an enemy of our kingdom."

Chaka couldn't keep quiet and shouted out from beyond. "This is our kingdom, you're invading!"

But Usizu didn't pay attention to him as he and the other northlanders threw growls at the young prince. "Listen, I guess you better get back on your trail. This is the land of king Ingelozi!"

Not, it was time for Kopa to finally let the curtain fall. "Wrong!" He said and the northlander quickly turned around facing the young one with intense glares as Kopa continued. "This is my land and my tree, and therefore… everything that is on it… belongs to me as well." He slowly marched forward as the group was tensed through each level of their body.

Usizu narrowed down his eyes as he was curious what te deal with this male was anyway. "Would you mind telling me your name… before I have you run over?!"

The golden male waited for a second before he got answered. "Prince Kopa!" He called out and was not surprised that the northlanders didn't react to the mentioning of his name. He was not expecting them to know who he was.

"I don't know what you mean by that but… kill him!" He commanded to the other two lion before turning around to the lioness still hanging on the tree. "Get the cub!"

Short after, Kopa found himself face to face with a male and a female as he began circling around with them and avoided various swings from the duo towards his head. In the distance, the lioness grinned and turned back around to get back on catching Chaka. But as she focused her gaze on the place the cub was hiding. There was no cub anymore.

"I guess you were looking for this one!" She heard someone saying towards her as she saw a male leopard glancing over at her. On his back, he was carrying the lion cub which had sunk his claws into the leopard's fur. "Sorry lady, but this cub is going nowhere." The lioness growled and swung her paws at Konde who was already out of her reach.

Usizu for his part observed the fight going on between his two friends and the lion who was calling himself Kopa. He was surprised to see that the male lion was doing really well. The prince grabbed the female at the scruff of her neck before he swung her around and she landed right in the male getting knocked out immediately. Usizu solely shook his head before he felt someone padding him on the shoulder.

"Ahem… excuse me!" The northlander stared right into the eyes of the ugliest looking lion he had ever seen. It was that kind of look that Mwehu enjoyed way too much. "Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?" Before usizo could react, the pale cream male had grabbed him with his teeth on the leg before he rolled over the front pulling the northlander with him before cracking a leg once again. Before Usizu could go on, he got kicked in the head and knocked out at once.

The only one left now was the lioness still going after the cub and Konde. The leopard and the lioness stared deeply into each other's eyes with both of them growling at them. But as fast as the fight has started, it was already over with the female feeling two other presences coming up behind her. She slowly turned around to see Kopa and Mwehu staring at her and both swinging her paws at her head simultaneously and knocking her out at once.

"That takes care of that." Kopa said while Konde let the young lion down from his back.

Chaka for his part was unsure if he could really trust these strangers. Yet there was something about the lion with the mane that he felt familiar with. He looked up at him before quickly jumping up and down trying to make him aware of what was going on. "We have to go, we have to go!" he kept yelling as Kopa and Konde stared down on him. "Shani and… Nuru and Mto… we have to get back."

"Whoe there young one! What is going, who is Shani?" The young prince asked right away trying to calm the cub down again.

But the young one was hard to be controlled as he tried to get going towards the forest. "My sister Shani, she… she needs me." Panic was in his voice and the golden furred adult made eye contact with his friends again. "And they also have Nuru and Mto. There! In the forest."

The trio glared at each other again with Konde analyzing the situation the quickest. "So; they have the sister if this young one hostage and two other lions. Any suggestions?" He asked the other two as they sat down in a circle. But neither Kopa nor Mwehu had something that could be an inspiration to solve this. The leopard just shook his head before he spoke out to the lions. "Alright… I got one!"

* * *

Tama's daughter growled with a slow voice glaring at the female lion that was pressing the golden furred female cub to the ground. He made it clear to her that if anybody of the two pridelanders was going to move, he would crush the cub under his paw. Yet that wasn't the only problem that the two had, they both were held down by northlanders themselves. Nuru stared over to Mto who looked just as defeated as she did. But that nothing compared to what Zazu was feeling at the moment.

The blue hornbill laid with a broken wing on the ground just staring upward into the sky with an empty glare. He had failed Kiara Kovu, they would never see their cubs ever again.

Since all three of them were unable to do anything, the female holding Shani down chuckled viciously and stared over to the group. Once the others get back, we will make sure that you two are out of the way for good." Her voice was cold and evil as she mocked Nuru and Mto. "You have kept us guessing long enough over the last weeks. But all that ended thanks to the little birdie over there." With her paw, she pointed out to Zazu and the major-domo stared around even more in defeat.

"What is taking them so long anyway?" The male standing over Mto and pressing his head to the ground with his neck asked out as he stared at the line of trees where the forest ended.

"How hard can it be to catch a single little cub?" She asked loosening her grip on Shani a bit and staring upwards to the tree tops. But the answer for that question didn't wait that long. Out of the sudden, a yellow furred black spotted figure landed right in front of the lion as their eyes met for a few seconds. Whatever she was prepared for what could happen this day; this was not on the list. The leopard widened his eyes before he hissed at the lioness which caught her completely unguarded.

At first, she just stood there and did nothing. A move which gave Kopa and Mwehu enough time to sneak up behind the two other lions holding the pridelanders captive. With quick moves, they snapped their teeth around the northlander's necks and bit down as hard as they could. The female in front looked around and was shocked to see her two comrades being completely knocked out. But right in that moment, Konde rushed forward and rammed his head into the side of the lioness and Shani was free.

Mato and Nuru were completely taken aback by the sudden group of help they had gained, They had no idea where these three came from, but they were definitely on their side. The duo quickly moved over to Shani and walked in front of her to protect her. Together, they watched as the trio began circling around the only left female.

"I bet that you are not willing to give us some information about the strength of your pride!?" Konde half asked and half made clear bringing his head closer to the female sitting in front of them. "But you don't have to answer that. Just tell us what is the deal with your king." He said but only received a disgusted short laugh from her.

Right in that moment, Chaka came walking up from behind and rubbed his head against the orange lioness who stared at him with great joy. Shani at once called out his name and ran up to him pulling her brother into a tight hug.

Mwehu was now up for the turn as he got his face directly into the one of the lioness. "I bet that you like to pick on smaller helpless animals. I myself do, but that doesn't mean that you can go around and screw with some friends of my pal here." The scarred lion said and pointed with his head towards Kopa at his side.

In the back, the pridelanders were still completely taken aback by the scene that was going on in front of them. They couldn't tell what these guys wanted, but at least they saved them from the northlanders that were after Kiara's cubs.

"You won't get anything from me. I will not betray my king. I would rather _die!"_

Kopa and Konde almost buried their faces in their paws as they could already tell what was going to happen to the female. "If you insist!" Mwehu said and without taking a second to think about it. He rammed his back leg into her head and grabbed her nose with his teeth. He made a quick motion with his head and broke the female's neck at once.

Nuru had to shove the two young ones to the side so that they didn't have to see what the scarred male did. But after they were done, Kopa turned around towards the female and the male as he smiled at them concerned. "Are you alright?" He asked to the female and then faced the male cub. "We saw the young one here in trouble and figured that we should bring him back to his mother." He said rubbing his right front paw over the cubs head.

"That is a good idea. His parents are already worried sick about him." She answered which made the golden furred male raise one of his eyebrows. Nuru realized that the male thought that she was his mother and therefore was a bit surprised. "We were just trying to protect them from the northlanders. I'm Nuru by the way! Over there we have my mate Mto. And the little cubs here are Shani and Chaka, the cubs of princess Kiara and prince Kovu."

At once, Kopa lost balance completely and nearly fell to the ground in surprise. He had returned only a few hours ago and already ran into members of his family. These two cubs were his niece and his nephew. _Oh boy! What a start. _He stared over to his closest friends as they came walking over to them. "My-my name is… Kopa!"

He stopped and just let the words sink into the minds of the female and the male in front of him. And given the looks of the duo getting thrown at him, he could see the disbelieve which these two had on him. "A-a-are you?" Mto started as he was the first one to find his composure again. "Are you that Kopa? The one everybody thought was dead?"

The golden furred prince simply nodded and the color of Nuru's and Mto's faces vanished at once. Even Zazu got back on his feet and stared at the male in front of them. "Oh great kings! What happened, our parents told us that you died in an horrible accident. You supposedly died before all of us were born."

"That is a long story! But we don't have time for that. First we have to find my sister and Kovu and stop Ingelozi." Kopa urged them and got right to the point. "Where are the others?" He started asking as he turned his attention more and more towards the blue hornbill. "How are Kiara and Kovu doing?"

All four males were impressed at the strength that the orange female showed in that moment. Kopa glared to the side as Zazu came walking over to him finally believing that the male lion that was standing in front of him was Kopa indeed. The two met their gazes for the first time and the blue hornbill smiled up at him. But Kopa only began to ponder.

But the major-domo slowly shook his head before he directed his head back on the prince. "Not that good, the pride doesn't trust Kovu. And Kiara is mentally destroyed since the day of the invasion."

"What did he do?" Konde came asking from the back.

Zazu stared at them with wide and sad eyes. "He had Ingelozi at the edge of defeat. But then he hesitated when Ingelozi revealed himself as his… _father._"

"What a twist!" Was the sarcastic remark coming from the leopard that was standing right beside his two friends.

Kopa gave him a glance with raised eyebrows right before he heard the scarred male beside him chuckle and saying… "Weakling! The little runt couldn't get the job done."

That was enough for Konde to get in and bring his muzzle just inches in front of Mwehu. The two growled at each other for a while before Konde turned around to face Zazu again. "Is that true!" The hornbill nodded and the yellow furred feline turned back towards his friend. "Sometimes you astonish me. He said he was his father, wouldn't you hesitate too? What sick bastard would kill his own…" He stopped right the moment he stared at the gaze of Mwehu which said _I know someone!_ "Oh, right! Sometimes I forgot what kind of sick mind you have."

"About time you realize!" The pale cream male simply answered back.

While the group still stood around, Kopa brought his head close to the blue hornbill again as he whispered into his ear. "Zazu, I don't want to be that pressuring but… what have you heard of Vitani."

The major-domo smirked slightly before going on and replying to the young adult. "Time has been hard on her too. For months, she had to deal with the isolation from the pride. The fact of her mother lying and compromising her for her whole, along the war with the outlanders, the loss she had with you _dying._ She might be the happiest to see you again."

Kopa gave him a nod that told T_hanks! _and raised his head again to stare at the other lions. "I bet they already set course for pride rock to finish this. Are you going to come with us?" The golden furred prince said right away as he turned around to face the other two.

But the two pridelanders kept standing in their spot as their gazes fell on the two small lions on their side. "We can't risk being found again. And with them roaming around pride rock, we leave Chaka and Shani open to be caught by them. And I am NOT going to leave them alone." Tama's daughter said with determination and care.

Seeing the group before them argue was a really disturbing sight for the pridelanders. All while this was going on, he stil could hear Mwehu and Konde arguing until Kopa jumped in between. "Come on guys! I don't have time for this." He said and the other two felines stop. "Let's keep moving, you'll be coming with us!" He pointed towards Mto and Nuru before he sat down in front of Chaka and Shani with a gentle smile. "Don't worry you two. I have just the right person that will keep you two safe." Both cubs didn't know what he meant but he simply raised his head and gave away three short roars.

* * *

While the fight at pride rock was becoming more and more rapid, the former king and queen were still lying in the den which both of them took as their refuge place over the last days. Yet while Nala was a bit more relaxed, it Simba was the one who began to get more and more distressed. The golden male stared from one side to the other and began to shift his paws and backside around and around. And then he couldn't take it. "This is ridiculous!"

Nala right away raised her head from her paws and watch her husband get to his paws with an unrest that she had barely seen over the last months. "What is ridiculous?" She asked simply and gently as she began to get to her paws.

"I can't stand just sitting around and wait here while Kopa and Kiara are going around and fight a battle that was originally mine." He answered hammering his paw onto the ground of the cave.

She could feel the pain and the frustration going through Simba's body. But she knew as well that what her mate had in mind was no alternative for what was going on right now. "Why do you keep being so harsh on yourself? What makes you believe that is _your _fight? You have done enough and have no need to go in there and risk your life as well."

The two locked eyes on each other and Simba stopped right beside and sat down. "I know you can call me stupid. And maybe can call me stubborn and crazy. But they are my cubs, and I have been apart from them for way too long." He stared deeply into the aqua eyes of the cream female. "Please understand me Nala! I don't want to fight directly, but if my children and my friends are fighting for our freedom, and I have to be there with them."

With Nala making eye contact with the old mandrill sitting at the entrance of the cave, she smiled warm at her husband and wrapped his front leg around his shoulder and licking him on the cheek. "I don't really like the idea but… I can't deny the fact that I can't stand hiding here either." She quickly stepped a few feet back and glared at the baboon in the back.

"Rafiki is there a way to help him." She asked with concern and calmness before the mandrill went forth.

The old monkey slowly at down in front of the former king. "I can giv' yu' enough strength tu get tu de' pride lands really fast. But dat' also comes wit' a cost." He said slowly and tried to hold the gaze which he gave the king and the queen.

Both Nala and Simba nodded their heads and the old mandrill began rubbing his hands together fiercely and then putting them on the male's side. The treatment took a few minutes before Rafiki released the former king anf placed a hand on his forehead. "I'll go ahead an' see if I can be of som' help." He got back up and began walking towards the entrance of the cave.

Simba on the other hand, got back to his paws as well and rubbed his head against his mate's. Nala returned the gesture with a broad smile. "How do you feel?" She asked out of concerned.

"Not that well but… I will manage." With that, the duo walked out of the den to walk to the place where their cubs were fighting for the future of their kingdom.

* * *

This was the moment which Ingelozi had been waiting for. He could smell the exhaustion and the unsafeness that lay over pride rock. He could feel the despair that had set in into parts of the pride of his son and daughter. And he loved every small part of it. Slowly, he turned to the left and stared at his most important consultant Itshe and saw the same amount of anxiousness that he felt himself right now. The northlander king then glanced to the right and saw the group of lions that were willing to fight for him and end the misers in which the pridelanders were right now, but in his way.

And last but not least, he stared up to the end of the ledge where he soon was going to announce his new role as king of the north lands and the pride lands. For a short moment, he closed his eyes and imagined what it would be ike being the most powerful lion in the African savannah. And after Ingelozi finally opened his eyes, he stared into the hate filled orbs of his son, his daughter and acting queen Kiara as they all growled down on him.

"It could all be over really quickly and easily." The king called out to the pridelanders above. "Just bow down before me and except Ingelozi as your superior and I may let you live to raise future generations in my will." Ingelozi stared up with his overconfident smirk.

But all Kovu and Vitani did was to keep growling at their father. In the back, Tojo stepped out from behind as he walked past Kivuli and Mbio staring at their enemies. "Someone needs to shut him up!" he gave away and received approving nods from the rest of the pride before he continued.

"Yeah… hard!" Malka's son added with Mbio sending out a growl as well.

"You know what our answer is!" Kiara called with the rest of her family and friends got ready to fight.

A slight chuckle escaped Ingelozi's muzzle and he stared to the ground shaking his head before staring annoyed towards the sky. "As you wish!" Another commanding roar followed and the northlanders started to to move forward. Seeing as their enemies were getting closer, the pridelanders moved up and jumped down from their rocks engaging the invaders as well.

The sun set in the distance and the earth erupted under the mass of lions running towards each other. Tama, Nafsi and Niyani were the first ones to reach the northlanders attacking them right away. Tojo came jumping from behind and landed on a male colliding head first with him before slashing him with his paws across the face. Behind him, Naima used her back legs to shove a lioness off from her.

Tama held herself off against two females before she got pushed from a male from behind. She stared up as she watched him bringing his down on her. But just in time, it was Malka coming from behind and ramming the northlander just into a side. Tama quickly glanced up and stared at her mate. "Thanks hun! Now let's get going." She quickly got to her paws and the two tried to orientate themselves.

But aside from them, there were other battles taking place. The northlander queen Ikhaya had her eyes set on Kiara who held her eyes leaned back and her teeth fletched at her. The acting queen of the pride lands was well aware that she was not as good of a fighter than the much older lioness. Without saying a word, she charged for Kiara and extracted her claws. Being surprised by her speed, Simba's daughter jumped to the back and landed with her paws on top of a rock looking down on her enemy.

She growled before she jumped directly at the foreign queen. But what Kiara didn't expect were the reflexes with Ingelozi's wife threw her right over her and Kiara landed back first in the dust. Ikhaya came walking over her and raised her paw over Nala's daughter to finish her.

_ROAR! _It sounded and a flash of tan blocked the swung coming from the light brown female as Vitani jumoed between her and Kiara while standing protectively over her sister in law. Yet Ingelozi's mate smirked at her and walked forth again. "Get up!" Vitani said just in time to avoid a swing coming from Ikhaya again. Quickly, kiara got back to her paws and jumped to the northlander queen yet missed her as she ducked underneath. The sisters in law worked together and shoved their enemy up the path leading towards the ledge of pride rock.

Kovu for his part had decided to engage his so called father as he stared at him with vicious eyes. Both raised at each other as they emerged from the lions fighting all around them. The dark brown male anticipated Ingelozi trying to hit him with his right paw and ducked underneath him before jumping at the older male sinking his teeth into Ingelozi's shoulder.

The northlander rolled to the side and Zira's son couldn't hold on to him. They both slid over the ground before going at each other again. The two kept throwing paws at each other the passed the battling lions around them. Soon, they found themselves at the feet of pride rock as well as the lionesses before.

The only one of the parties that didn't want to fight was, who else could it be, the beige male named Itshe. Kimae's son wandered slowly in a ducked position maneuvering around the battle going on. He had no interest in participating in this fight where one could easily lose surveillance of the things going on. He observed the young lions Mbio and Kivuli battling around with two other males where he could see the pridelanders slowly gaining the upper hand. With a swift motion he had passed the field as he walked up to the den in which he spent parts of his cubhood.

To the side, Itshe saw the Ikhaya fighting it out with Vitani and Kiara. And from the spot he sat he could overview the whole battle. His gaze kept wandering until… there she was. Even after years of which he brought some distance between him and her, he could still make her out on the spot. Itshe watched her getting tackled by another lioness and he shook together for a short moment and felt worried. But then again, the male washed the thought of sentiment away and focused on the lions battling at the huge rock formation. It was the last step that he needed to be completely fre from emotions. At least he thought.

* * *

Kichwa could hear the noises of the growls and the yells even from far away and had no problem in making out the position in which Ingelozi's and Kiara's prides were going at each other. He and his sisters knew that they had entered the pride lands way too late and couldn't fulfill the wished of their parents to warn Simba before the invasion. But they sure were determined to aid the pridelanders the best way they could.

The three siblings raced through the landscape at full speed with them being able to see pride rock at the horizon. The moment they set sight on the huge rock formation, they didn't think twice and engaged in the battle going on. And right in that moment, he set his eyes on a lion he was anxious to meet ever since that day in the north lands. Umfula!

He was the one leading the attack on him and his family and started this whole mess which Kichwa and his sisters found themselves in right now. Trying their best to not be seen, Kula's children moved slowly and steady around the fighting prides. They hid behind a bolder, getting ready to pounce on their targets and rushed forward into the battle.

Upon the battle ground, Tama and Sabini had teamed up again to fight yet another duo of northlanders. One of the foreigners snapped their fangs right in front of the muzzle of Mbio's mother's face as she shook back a little. After that, she jumped at her with Sabini ducking underneath hr claw before Tama came from behind her and struck hers across the lionesses face.

It was then Sabini's turn to go forth and rumbled the female to the ground with Tama blocking a swing coming from the other northlander. Yet before the two could go for each other again, another lioness landed in between with the pridelander Niyani landing on top of her. All three lioness stood now together growling at the invaders. But again, they were interrupted by two caramel flashes coming from the side and collided head first into the northlanders.

Tama and her friends stared in surprise at the sight of the newcomers. Quickly, Kichwa jumped in between as well and earning even more confused glares from the others. "Who are you?" Were the first words coming from the pale golden female as she gazed back at the dark brown colored male. Chumvi's son was about to answer when he just smiled at them before running off to fight himself. Sabini gazed towards Niyani and Tama as she spoke out herself. "Whoever they are, they seem to be on our side." Sabini added and the females got back into the fight.

* * *

Kiara was fighting for everything that was dear to her. Her parents were relying on her, wherever they might be at that moment. Her pride fought for the safety of her kingdom and her pride, and therefore she was giving everything she had in order to fight the northlander queen Ikhaya. And for that, she was thankful that her sister in law was ready to fight alongside with her.

The golden/cream acting queen came from the side and tackled the light brown female throwing her over to the side with both of them rolling around over the ledge of pride rock. Yet the older lioness shoved her away and stood on her paws with Kiara still lying on her side. But before she could go at Nala's daughter, Vitani was coming from the side and hammered her head into Ikhaya's neck before jumping at her and trying to ram her teeth into her chest.

But the queen again rolled around and brought the younger one down as she managed to kick Kiara in the head with her back legs. Simba's daughter sailed a bit over the ground and landed on her side with her faces speaking exhaustion and pain. Kovu's sister saw that and ran back to slide between her relative and the attacking foreign lioness.

Not far away from them, Kovu and Ingleozi were still throwing claws and fangs at each other with the acting king slowly gaining the upper hand on his father. He moved his head to the side and avoided a bite coming from the older male as he wrapped his front legs around Ingelozi's neck and swinging him around. Kovu tried to ram his right back paw into his father's face but he moved to the side and swept his son of his back paws.

The northlander king came down on top of Kovu pressing him to the ground and throwing his teeth at him. After giving the older male a head butt, he let a right and a left hook follow before he shoved Ingelozi off from him with his back legs. Quickly, they rushed at each other and exchanged hits again. Ingelozi began to breathe heavier while Kiara's mate was still in really good shape. With another swift move, Kovu had twisted him around was now pressing him to the ground again with his chest moving up and down quickly while he growled at his father. Underneath him, the foreign king had his eyes widened.

"KIARA!"

Kovu quickly shook his head up and saw Vitani getting in the way just in time before Ikhaya snapped her neck around Simba's daughter with her teeth. His eyes widened and he loosened his grip a little bit which Ingelozi tried at once to shove Kou off from him and turn the tables in that fight. But he didn't have to as the dark brown male got hit from the back by another male coming from behind.

Ingelozi stared up at Itshe who had rammed Kovu from the back and now stood over the acting king as Zira's son stared at him with a mix of anger and surprise. The northlander king saw his chance and stared at his son with a smirk building up on his face. "Keep him down; I have got something to shatter the morale." He said and slowly approached Kiara.

Kovu tried to get back onto his feet at once but got hold down by Itshe again. "Just lie down and enjoy the show." He smirked down on him staring at the struggling pridelander.

Vitani and Ikhaya in the back were battling viciously with each other with Vitani gaining the upper hand over the northlander queen. She let the female roll over her back and Ikhaya landed hard on the side. Kovu's sister tried to ram her paws into her neck but didn't get far with Ingelozi coming from the side and biting down on Vitani's neck. He swung her and around and threw her off as she landed hard on her side as well. Vitani groaned in pain as her face showed a crunched image.

Not the field was open for Ingelozi to move up to Simba's daughter as he smirked evily at the lioness slowly getting her conscious back. Before Vitani could move, Ikhaya had jumped on her and held her down while Itshe got Kovu pinned right as well. Both siblings watched with anger and intensity as the northlander king walked up to the acting queen and smirked at her again. "Time for the pride lands to finally fall." He said and Kiara leaned her ears back as she expected the paws to connect with her head.

"ROAAAARRRR!"

But the impact never came, a golden flash filled the imagery of Ingelzoi and he quickly shook back as he felt his paw getting blocked and receiving a kick into his stomach. Ingleozi tumbled backwards staring to the ground and getting his eyes locked on who interfered with his plans. In front of him stood yet another male lion with a brown mane and golden fur, his eyes were aqua colored and a scar showed itself on the right side on his face. He stared at the invading male and his eyes showed the pure hate and determination. "You touch her once and you'll regret it." He said as he marched forward and stood protectively in front of Kiara.

All lions present stared up just as shocked as the brown male who observed the newcomer carefully. Who would be so bold to interfere in this conflict and threat the king of the north ands like this?

Kopa for his part didn't wait for a response from the older one as he turned quickly to Kiara and threw a small smile at her. "Are you alright, can you walk?" He asked with a gentle voice right before growling at Ingelozi and staring over to Kovu. "I'm taking over for now! Got it?!" He said with a stern voice and didn't even give Kiara's mate a chance to respond.

Being really confused by the scene developing in front of him, the northlander king raised his eyebrows and searched for some advice from Itshe. But the beige male shrugged his shoulder unable to grasp what was going on. So the brown male stared at Kop and spoke out. "And who in the great Ingonyama's name are you?" he asked trying not to sound as surprised as he truly was.

The former prince was glad that nobody seemed to realize who he was and he walked forth again. He narrowed down his eyes and he stared out to him moving forward. "My name is Kopa!" All the color disappeared from the lion's face who had heard this name before. "I was born in the pride lands, first born son of king Simba; rightful heir to the throne of this kingdom. Thought to be killed by the lioness Zira, and I am here to claim back what's mine and throw your butts back towards the place where you came from."

Vitani had her snapped back and her ears leaned back as she couldn't believe the words that were coming from the newcomer on the scene. _He said Kopa… but Kopa is dead, can it be? B-But… that fur color, those aqua eyes. Those are the right eyes? _She stared at the lion who said he was Kopa and observed him even more. His eyes and his fur looked right. And there was that blinking in his eyes which he recognized almost immediately.

Far away from her, Kiara was completely stunned and unable to move as she saw her supposed dead brother walking forth and growling at Ingelozi. The fur color of the male looked just like hers and he could see the eyes of her mother on his face. She wanted to say something but couldn't as she saw Ingelozi smirking over at Kopa and giving way a roar.

"I don't know where you got that nonsense from, but Simba doesn't have a son." He said and short after, a trio of lions came climbing up to the ledge. It was a trio made out of Umnikozi, Inhloli and yet a third lion named Ububi. "And quite frankly, I don't actually care if you are really. But do you really think that you alone can march against me and my pride without bringing some friends." Ingelozi added with the other males moving up behind him into a line.

Kopa stared to the ground and shook his head slowly. "You know, I wish I would have thought of that." He said and could hear movement behind him which forced him to lighten up is face. "Oh wait!" The former prince said mocking as Konde, Mwehu, Mto and Nuru came walking up behind him and Simba's son turned his face into a smile. "I _DID_!"

* * *

**Author's note: **So we finally got everything set for the big showdown in the next chapter.

There are quite a few references to movies here. The scene where Kopa faces off with the lions to save Chaka is inspired by the same scene from Robin Hood – Prince of thieves with Kevin Costner and Alan Rickman. Then we have of course the "Dance with the devil in the pale moonlight" line which I got from Tim Burton's "Batman". Then there is yet another scene from gladiator, of course the one where Maximus confronts Comudus in the colloseum. And Kopa's line at the very end is yet something else Batman related. It's from the cartoon Justice league (2000-2002) where Batman says the same to Clayface and some of his goons.

There's also a slight note to Karate Kid where Miyagi rubs his hands together just like the mandrill did to give Daniel a boost to fight the final.

For now, I have nothing more to say than see you next week.


	17. Battle Royal

Alright guys, now it's time for the final confrontation. The final showdown between the pridelanders and the northlanders as well as Kopa and Ingelozi, while throwing some of the meanest and craziest dude's of the African Savannah. ;) There won't be that much story since we basically start in the middle of this battle so… the fighting scenes could turn a bit dragging.

**LionKingFactsGuy2: **Thanks, though it keeps getting harder to come up with something new.

**Starzinmyeyez: **"Save the day" I wouldn't use that phrase but… with everything set up, now the fun part can begin.

**Reldor: **It was the chapter with the most out of canon references in this whole thing. And as the title of the chapter says, it's time for Kopa to compete in the Champions league.

****WARNING**: **This chapter contains extreme violence and cruelty up to downright sadistic acts.

* * *

Chapter 17: battle royal

Mwehu and Konde stopped right behind their lion friend with both of them staring at the scene and growling into the round. They both waited for the reactions from the other lions as they stared at their young adult friend who kept smirking at their enemies with a self satisfied glare. "You got that right, the over dramatic entrance really served his purpose." He said towards the scarred male beside him.

On the other side of the scene, Itshe narrowed his eyes down as he saw the scarred male standing beside the lion calling himself Kopa. And his eyed widened himself at once as he recognized who the male was that stood right beside Kopa and the leopard. He released Kovu who quickly moved to the side and stared at the group as well. Itshe walked forth and simply put out one single word. "YOU!"

Both Mwehu and Konde shook their head up as they saw the northlander coming up to them. "Uhm!" The scarred one mentioned as he tried to get his thoughts together. "Do I know you?" Mwehu simply asked shrugging his shoulders as the rest of the pridelanders stared at the scene waiting for what was going to happen.

"Yeah we do. We actually have met quite often in the past, you ruined my life." Itshe remarked with an angry voice and bared teeth almost shouting at Mwehu at once.

But the pale cream lion only rubbed the top of his head and gave away a slight shook with his head. "Yeah… because that really narrows it down." He simply answered in a sarcastic manner which made Itshe even more angry and stomping onto the ground with his front legs.

Kimae's son brought his paw in front of his face before he growled out in frustration and then yelling out to him again. "You were the one that deformed my face back when I lived in the pride lands. Without you, I might have had the chance to be together with the lioness I always loved, but you had to deform my face and me ugly."

Again, Mwehu kept staring at him and tried to grasp who the beige male was that stood in front of him and obviously held a grudge to him. Finally, the scarred one's face lit up and he opened his muzzle to speak and raising his paws. But only to shove it closed again and throwing confused glares around again. "No! Still doesn't remember."

"ENOUGH!" Ingelozi said again to quiet down the scene again. He pointed towards the young prince standing beside his friends and being really amused by the events going on around Mwehu and Itshe. "If you really are who you say you are, then I think it's time that you prove it!" He said and began circling with Kopa who moved forward as well.

In the back, Nuru and Mto came walking over to Kiara and tried to help her back to her paws. Kiara stared at her two friends completely confused as she stared at her supposed brother. "What are you doing here, where are Chaka and Shani?" She said weak with the two lions staring at her.

"Don't worry about them. They're safe." Nuru answered as she and Mto went into a defensive stance in front of their acting queen. "We gave them into good paws." She added before she nodded into the direction of Kopa who kept stalking Ingelozi with great attention. "Thank the great kings we ran into your brother or else it would have ended today."

At that, Kiara kept glancing again on the golden furred male by moving her eyes across his body. _So he really is Kopa?! _She thought as she set her eyes back on her friends. "Do you believe him?" She simply asked as she tried to read the face language which Nuru and Mto had put one. The three stared at each other and Kiara knew that she could trust them and especially… _him._

Each one of the lions up on pride rock set their eyes on one of the other party as they searched for the right one to go up against. Konde right away gave Ikhaya a nod which the queen answered with a laugh of arrogance. Kopa and Ingelozi were already ready to fight each other while Itshe was willing to get into a fight with Mwehu. Yet what he didn't expect was the pale cream male to have other plans.

"Wait a moment, can I choose my enemies myself?" The scarred one said which caused confused glares from Kopa and Konde going over to him. They were bow standing beside each other unable what to make out of it. Both felines were not quite sure what to make out of the state of mind which their longtime friend was currently setting himself in.

Kopa raised his eyebrows and short after shrugged his shoulders. "Sure! Why not?!" he said while throwing a glare at his leopard friend as if to say. _What the hell is he talking about? _

For a short moment, the scarred male stared at the duo before speaking out to them. "Okay, I take him, him… and him." He said and pointed out at Umnikozi, Inhloli and Ububi. A motion which caused everyone on the scene to stare at him with big eyes. For Kopa and Konde, it was nothing new for their scarred friend to be a bit off when it came to pick fights. But even this seemed a bit crazy. "Alright! What's your gimmick?"

"Gimmick?" Inhloli asked as he and his three friends

Mwehu for his part didn't show any mime as he went forth and answered the northlander. "Yeah, you know like Scar's hyenas. They were all misfit, minions and crap… what are you?"

Before he could continue to say anything, the three northlander henchmen walked up to him as they padded back and forth in front of him, Kopa and Konde with laughter escaping their muzzles. "If you insist on doing that, I would say I am the pretty one." Inhloli gave away with a giggle.

"Ah success's a ten!" Mwehu replied dryly before he faced Umnikozi. "And that makes you the one with the freaky habit."

Umnikozi narrowed his eyes and replied at once. "I like to collect the heads of my enemies." He said not less mocking and kidding than the scarred pale cream one.

"Spectacular!" The maneless male added while turning his attention to the last one of the bunch. "And that would make no doubt the big fat stupid one."

The face of the male got stern at once before a loud and angry growl before snarling at Kopa's friend. "You take that back or I'll kill you!"

"Alright, alright you're not tough!"

"That's better!"

The last statement towards Ububi made the young golden furred male at Mwehu's side raised his eye brows and let him frown. As he tried to get an order into what was going on. He came closer to the older lion before whispering into his ear. "Wait! Didn't you…"

"Give him a minute."

It was then that the northlander realized what the scarred male lion had to him and tensed up at once. "Hey, you bastard. That's going to cost you!"

That was exactly what the pale cream lion wanted to hear from the northlander. "I have killed lions for less… and to answer your question… hell yeah I do." He said and kicked Umnikozi into a place where it really hurts male lions. He quickly turned around and spit Ububi into the eyes before slapping Inhloli into across the face. With a fast motion, he ran towards the end of the ledge before jumping down. "CATCH ME IF YOU CAN! YEEHAA!"

Umnikozi was able to get back onto his feet and tried to run directly after Mwehu, but only to be called back by a furious looking Ingelozi. "Let him go! Concentrate on the matter at paw!" He called towards his subject who kept growling at him. The north lands king knew that Umnikozi could be a bit short tempered at some points and that made him insubordinate. And he hated that.

"No! I won't let myself be embarrassed like that. After him!" he called and Inhloli and Ububi followed the male in going after Mwehu.

Seeing what their friend did, Kopa and Konde stared at each other again not believing that it worked. "Yeehaa?!" The golden furred prince asked with a raised eyebrow and yet another shrug with his shoulders. "Wow, he is really getting into this!"

"Yeah, I never seem him so happy before!" Konde replied after the statement his young lion friend made out and short after, the two began to laugh slightly. But they couldn't go on for much longer as they found themselves once again facing off against Ikhaya and Ingelozi.

Kopa and the king of the north lands moved to the side with the leopard and the queen moving to the other. The golden prince stared at his opponent and then thought about Kiara still being alongside the scenery. "Nuru, Mto… get going and help my sister. I got this one covered." He ordered without facing the trio in the back.

Even though, the golden/cream female felt like being pulled back when her father tried to be overprotective, she knew that she couldn't go on with this lions again. The fight with Ikhaya earlier had drained to much energy and she knew that there were other battles going on around pride rock. While being guarded by her friends, the acting queen quickly moved to the pathway leading down from pride rock.

And with that, the only ones left were Kopa, Konde, Vitani and Kovu on one side, and Ikhaya, Itshe and Ingelozi on the other side. The king waited until the three were out of side before he got face to face with Kopa and smirked down on the slightly smaller male. "No matter what you try, you won't be able to save her, and neither will you save your pride." He mocked the younger lion who just stared back up at him.

"That's something we have to see!" He was barely able to say before the brown male struck him on the face.

Kopa tumbled to the side but recovered quickly to let Ingelozi dive to the side and missing him with his teeth. The golden furred male tried to push Ingelozi into the dirt from above putting all his weight into the older male. Yet the northlander moved up and threw the prince over his back and Kopa landed hard in the dust. Quickly, he growled up to Ubuvila's uncle and before avoiding being hit by the male lion's back paw.

* * *

Down on the field of pride rock, the battle between the northlanders and the pridelanders was even more vicious with the pridelanders getting back in the game and slowly gaining the upper hand. With Simba's and Nala's pride fighting for their lives and their home, they quickly made up for the disadvantage about being starved out and not as healthy as the northlanders.

The ones having the most to do were still Tama and Sabini and Niyani alongside their mates Tojo, Malka as well as their sons and daughters. Even the appearance of the three newcomers which nobody had an idea of who they were pretty much tilted the odd back into the favor of the pridelanders. Tama stayed low and tackled a northlander female on the paws as she bit down on the lioness and brought her of her feet. The foreigner tried her best to escape the grasp of tarnish/orange female. But Tama quickly held on to her and bit down on her shoulder which made the invading female yell out in pain again.

Beside the duo, Tojo let another male stumble over his body as he tackled the northlander's legs with his forcing him to sail over. And just like Tama, he went right away to sink his claws into the male's neck. Both tama and Tojo got up from their points and smiled over at each other now feeling that their victory was definitely was a possibility and not a wish anymore.

Yet what they didn't expect were the two figures that tumbled right in between them and took the group completely by surprise. Mwehu was lying on top of Inhloli and gave him various slaps with his claws before glaring up at the battle going on around them. His eyes widened as he saw the other two northlander following him and quickly grabbed Inhloli's leg before throwing him into his back. The northlander collided with Umnikozi and the two rolled over the ground making way for Ububi to go after the male.

As they passed the tarnish/orange and ochre male, the muzzles of the two pridelanders dropped right open and Tama stared up at Tojo standing right behind her asking out loud. "Was that…?"

But Tojo just kept staring at the duo running off into the distance. He narrowed down his eyes but at the same time raised his eyebrows. "I certainly hope not." Yet then again, the other two male passed them and growled furiously and sayin phrases like. "I want his head in my grasp." And "No let me have the pleasure to kill him!" It was all that Tojo needed and he just shrugged his shoulder as he turned back on is female friend. "Yup, definitely him!"

Meanwhile Mwehu and Ububi were fighting each other upward small plateau the pale cream dodging and countering with various it's of his own. Ububi charged forward extracting his front legs and his claws to catch the scarred male. But all caught was air as Mwehu dove underneath and let the northlander land face first in the dirt. He quickly bit down on his left front leg to make him yell out in pain. But Kopa's friend wasn't finished, he walked forth and rolled over the back of the lions while still holding on to the leg. He stretched the muscles and bones so long until a crack came out of the leg indicating that he had broken it.

Unable to hold back the pain, Ububi rolled over the floor with mwehu jumping up and hammering his back paw into the other front leg cracking through the bone as well. With just a few moves, he had the northlander immobilized and now stared down on a small cliff not even a few meters high, he stared directly at a waterhole underneath and his face filled with a nasty and bloodthirsty expression. "Have a nice swim!"

With that, he kicked Ububi in the side and the foreign lion rolled over the edge and landed directly in the water. Being unable to use his front legs, the northlander sank underneath the surface and vanished from the sight of the lion above. Mwehu spit after him onto the water and he turned around to find Umnikozi and Inhloli staring at him with growls and snarls.

* * *

Back on pride rock, Kopa and Ingelozi were still going at each other, the golden prince jumped at the king trying to wrap his front legs around his neck. But Ingelozi quickly moved back and smashed his paw into the side of the smaller male. Kopa rolled over the ground and quickly got back to his feet again before going low on the legs.

And again, the older lion moved to the side and rammed his back paw into the face of the young prince. Kopa tumbled backwards again and was barely able to see Inglozi coming after him; he quickly rolled onto his back and let the northlander sail over him by kicking him onto the stomach. While the older one was still lying on the ground, Kopa tried to get the upper hand and rushed over to the male. But again, Ingelozi was ahead of him and wrapped his front legs around Kopa's neck and throwing him over him while sinking his claws into the prince's neck and drawing blood.

Kopa slid lying on his side over the ground and stared up at the northlander king spitting some blood on the ground. He stared at the crimson sop on the ground and then growled angrily at the young prince across him.

Not far away from them was Vitani still staring at the battle going on, never ever since Kopa had given away who he was, she had laid her eyes off from him. By now, she could feel the warmth inside as she saw her best friend being alive after all these years. But then again, she felt a sudden scare coming across as she observed the stomach of her cubhood friend moving fiercely up and down. _He's losing!_ "Kopa! I can help you!" She called out at the young prince who never turned his eyes from Ingelozi.

"Stay away Tani! This is something that I have to do on my own." He answered with a slight bitterness in his voice slowly shifting the weight on his paws expecting the next attack coming from the male lion on the other end. "Go and help my sister." The last thing he needed right now was Vitani getting into this and endanger her more than necessary.

Yet Vitani was not sure, she had seen Kopa mock fight in the past and she knew that he had always a bit weak on his legs. "B-b-But!"

"I don't have time to argue with you! They need you more than I do. GO!"

There was tension and anger coming from his voice as the tan female just shook her head and slowly backed away from the scene. But not without glancing back at her friend and throwing another concerned gaze at him. "Be careful!"

Again, Kopa never blinked and didn't dare to gaze at the female walking down to the other lions fighting below. Yet he managed to struggle himself to a final word. "I already made a hobby of defeating death. I think I can handle this." He answered dryly trying to stare down and intimidating the king in front of him.

It took them a while before they had finished their staring contest and both Kopa and Ingelozi roared before running at each other again.

Kovu for his part was facing off with Itshe and had a lot more trouble could have thought. Itshe had not been a great fighter in the future, but he was way more superior in intellect than the young adult he was fighting against. Zira's son tried to overpower the former pridelander with his strength yet often ran into air as Itshe dodged and avoided getting caught by the dark brown male.

Wherever Kiara's mate wanted to go at the other lion, he had already vanished and left the acting nothing but frustration. And that was exactly what Itshe wanted to have with the younger male. "What's wrong pridelander, having a problem with catching your opponent?" Ithunzi's father mocked the other one as he dove to the side and let the dark brown lion land once again in the dust.

Kiara's mate needed a new strategy, he thought for moment and stared at Itshe with his face filled with anger. The beige male was anticipating all his moves and knew what he was doing from the start. Yet he had to change something in order for anything that was going to happen. And that was when something inside his mind made him remember something that Kiara said to him short after they had met.

"_Come on Kovu! You're always so direct and in line. Why can't you be at least a bit more spontaneous and surprising?" Kovu stared at the golden/cream female as he tried to get what his girlfriend meant by that. Seeing the expression on his face, Kiara frowned and smirked slyly at him. "You don't know what I'm talking about?!" She continued before she saw the dark brown male shaking his head. She giggled again and continued. "You know, do something unexpected. Like this!" With that, she shoved the male lion forward with her front paws and Kovu started to tumble backwards and fell directly into a waterhole in his back. _

_The young adult, stared up at the female who shoved him into the water and stared at him with suppressed laughter. Kovu quickly shook the water out of his mane and then began to laugh back at his mate and he understood what she meant. _

Back in the present, the acting king finally got the idea and stared at the beige male with his face showing a sudden degree of defeat. It was a look that unsettled Itshe a little bit. "Okay… you win." He simply said and Itshe shook back his head.

_What the…! _The former pridelander thought at the sight he was seeing in front of him. "What do you mean?" He asked confused and dared to move a few steps closer. He had been around conspiring and plotting lions for far too long to trust someone that was changing his tone like that. Slowly, he began to circle the younger male as Kovu kept his stare straight ahead.

"Like I said, you win. I tried to get a hold of you and you outsmarted me every time. I don't see the point in going on if I can't grab you." Ingelozi's son replied directing his face to the ground and stare at the other male defeated.

Again, Itshe was mistrusting Kovu as he came to a halt directly beside him and gazing deep into his eyes. "I've been around Ingelozi and Scar for years. And I think I know when someone is lying, but you my friend are really good at not showing it. I still think that you are up to something."

But that was all what Kovu had been waiting for. "Well! You're right in one thing." With that, he quickly brought his fangs forward, Kovu snapped his teeth around the neck of Itshe and pulled him around with all his strength. The dark brown male smashed the beige one onto the ground as Itshe's body got shaken through very hard. Ingelozi's consultant didn't even knew what happened as he stared up and immediately wanting to hit himself and curse himself for falling for this trick.

"Now, I guess we talk about me not being able to catch you." He said and put on his most threatening growl out of his voice and even showing some delight in the act that he outsmarted Itshe. Short after, he brought his head down and was about to end him when…

Itshe chuckled shortly after he had set his glance onto the ground and quickly moved his paw over the ground to throw some dirt into the acting king's face. Kovu stumbled "ARGH!" Kovu said quickly as he tried to swipe it out of his eyes to get his vision back. Yet he had nothing to set up against the other male tackling him within an instant and smashing him against the rocky wall of pride rock. Kovu hit his head and stumbled down to the ground dizzy and slowly losing conscience.

"You know my little friend, I could kill you and this whole thing would be over." Itshe added as he towered over the flatly lying Kovu who could barely hear him through his senses going numb. "But I like to see how things develop and what can be in stall for me." His muzzle was only inches away from Kovu as he almost whispered into his ear. "So I'm going to let you live since I got other things to take care of."

With that, he slowly backed off and disappeared behind pride rock.

* * *

With the sun still vanishing on the horizon and the landscape still hilled in golden/orange light, the battle between the pridelanders and the northlanders was still going on. And after the shock of her brother still being alive, Kiara could go back on focusing on throwing their enemies out of their home. She was accompanied by her friends Nuru and Mto as they walked down the path and saw numerous females and males battling with each other. She could see Naima and Kivuli standing together and fighting off another duo of outlanders while Tama and Sabini doing the same.

But there was something else that took the attention of her. There were three other lions that were battling the northlanders which she had never seen before. Seeing their fur color, they could have been part of the invading pride as well, yet they were clearly teaming up with her family to defeat the others. She quickly shook her head as she glanced to the back and saw Vitani coming down and standing beside her.

With the corner of her eye, she saw a duo of lionesses sneaking up behind a few bushes and towards Nuru's mother and her aunt as well as the strange male lion fighting against a northlander. A sight which made her perk her ears up at once and fill her face with panic. "Vitani! Come on!" She said and the tan female caught immediately what the acting queen meant.

A few feet away, Tama and Sabini were using a similar tactic than what they used back with the fight against the outlanders. While Tama divided one of the lionesses, Sabini used her as a ramp coming down on the northlander female pressing her head towards the ground. Tama again jumped ahead and smashed her paw into the face of the second lioness as she was trying to fight back on the pale golden female.

And again not far away from them, Kichwa was in the middle of fighting Umfula. Due to his bigger size in body he was able to hold himself well against the older and more experienced lion. With the fact of Kichwa having longer legs, he was able to keep Umfula on distance and gave him a few blows to the head with the northlander not getting close to him.

But that didn't hold the brown furred lion back from throwing some threats towards Kula's son. "You should have stayed back with your parents. It won't take long until we find them and your little girlfriend." He mocked him rubbing his some blood off from his lips.

Yet, the dark brown young adult snarled and went forth trying to ram his fangs into his throat. Before Umfula could react, he got pushed down by Kichwa who quickly brought his teeth down on his back leg. The northlander yelled out in pain and Kichwa bit down even more. After that, he pulled the body back up and swung him around using every single bit of his strength. He did a 360o while ramming the head of the invading lion into a tree standing nearby. The collision gave away a nasty and almost unsettling sound and Umfula went limb right from the start.

After letting go of the male, Kichwa had to breathe heavy for a moment and almost passed out from the strength it took for him to swing Umfula around like that. Just in that moment, there was a female coming from the side and being ready to get to him. Yet in the next second, there was a duo of lioness coming from the side as well and catching the female mid air before bringing her down to the ground. Quickly, the duo took the one female out and Kichwa found himself staring up into the electric blue eyes of a tan colored female.

"Now that was close!" She said and already told him to get back on her paws. Chumvi's son stared over and saw the other two females coming over to them after they had brought down another duo of lionesses.

Tama stared at Kiara and Vitani before opening her muzzle to call out to the duo as well as her own daughter and son in law. "Nuru! I thought you were with Kiara's cubs. And Kiara, where are Ingelozi and Ikhaya." She noticed the dark brown male snarling a little bit as she said out the words of the king and queen of the northlands.

"They are still fighting up on pride rock." Kiara answered the tarnish/orange female with some sort of urge in her voice as she got right into Tama's face. "Tama… _Kopa _is up there!"

"WHAT!" Sabini and Tama yelled almost at the same time and they stared to pride rock where they could actually see a golden furred male fighting with the king of the north lands. Tama brought her paw to her chin before she continued. "So that explains Scarface over here!" She ignored the confused glares of Vitani, Nuru and Mto and went into a little update for the lionesses at her side.

But meanwhile, Kichwa stared up at the fighting lions on top of pride rock and quickly turned on the group at his side. "Ingelozi is up there?" He asked with a snarl and waited for Tama to answer.

"Yes!"

The dark brown male didn't even wait for another answer as he darted off to avenge the death of his supposed father in law with the pridelanders staring after him with big confusion.

* * *

The fight between Mwehu, Inhloli and Umnikozi dragged the trio away from pride rock and into the direction of the small gorge that was running close by. The sun could still be seen in the distance and still showed the lions fighting below in now a red light. While Kopa and Ingelozi strictly tried to wear each other down, Mwehu once again went along with his tactic of divide and destroy. Every time, the northlander Umnikozi tried to sink his claws into the pale cream's neck, he got pushed away and denied the chance to go in into the fight.

Inhloli went for a low attack as he watched the scarred male being distracted for a short moment. The northlander swept Mwehu's legs underneath and the pale cream male lied cross-country in the air. Umnikozii came from the back and tackled him mid-air with both of them landing directly in the wall of the gorge.

What both of them were not prepared was parts of the wall giving in to the impact and a bunch of rocks coming off directly into their direction. In the last moment, Mwehu jumped to the side and avoided being hit by the stuff coming down. Umnikozi however didn't have as much luck as Kopa's friend. A huge rock and a small tree landed on him and the brown male lion got stuck in the position he found himself in.

The maneless one stared at him with a mocking tone but didn't have that much time as Inhloli came from the back and knocked both him and Mwehu over. The rolled over the ground until the northlander hit his head on one of the rock that had come down. He yelled out in pain but was pressed to the ground as he saw the scarred lion shoving another bolder over that landed on his side.

He had his head lying onto the ground and tried to move his limbs. But there was no chance for that and he had to watch as Mwehu began to tower over him with nasty snarls coming out of his muzzle. The pale cream male stared over to Umnikozi who was still struggling to get out of his trap. He slowly turned his body around until his right back paw was right above the northlander. "I wonder how long it takes until… you die!"

With that, he hammered hi back paw onto the male's head who was unable to defend himself. It was one of those moments where Mwehu fell completely victim to his blood rushes as he continued to kick Inhloli with all his might all while he began growling at him and saying… "Die die die die die die die die die die!" He stopped counting and still continued the destruction oft the northlander.

By that time, Inhloli had stopped to respond and his face had turned into a puddle of mud. And in the distance, Umnikozi stared with horror at how one of his friend was getting mangled in front of his eyes. During the pride wars, he had seen a lot of stuff that was sadistic and close. But never had he seen someone having so much amusement destroying another lion. Never even himself and Kwelanga.

Rage rose inside him and he began struggling to get of his situation. "You sick bastard!" He said without the irony that lied around him. He gave away a roar of pure hate as he made the pale cream male stare at him. With another rush of energy, he shoved the rock off of him and broke the tree in two with his body.

Mwehu stared at him even more cautioned as his face was filled with shock and surprise and without saying out loud, his muzzle formed the words _What the devil?! _Yet he had no time to think of that as Umnikozi rammed him with his head and pushed him with all his power into another wall of the gorge. The scarred one slid to the ground and the northlander towered over him with anger. "Let's see how you like that!" He said and began slashing his claws over the maneless lion's face.

* * *

Both the prince and the king of the north lands collapsed to the ground completely flattened and exhausted from the fight going on. Kopa's breath was heavy and loud while Ingelozi began to gasp in frustration. Both males began to crawl again towards the end of the ledge. Kopa on one side tried to get back onto his paws while the dark brown male just stopped on the edge completely frustrated.

Ingelozi reached the edge of the ledge and stared down on the masses fighting below. "I… I was supposed to… I was supposed to be the prime ruler of both the pride and the north lands." He said in frustration and tried to push himself up again. "I came to find the great king Simba, to mess myself with him in combat. And what happened? I find that the king has become a weakling and instead of fighting Simba, I have to keep up with his son." His words spoke of frustration as he grunted even more.

"What's the matter? Got a little bit tangled up in your pride?" Kopa said with a smile as he spoke through gasps and hurtful growls. "Bet you didn't expect this when you woke up this morning!" Even though he was barely able to walk himself, the young adult was back in his arrogant and impulsive mood. He had the king at the edge of defeat, and he wanted to finish the job.

However, as Kopa kept mocking the brown colored lion, Ingelozi began to feel some strength in his legs again. A strength that he used to push himself up with. "You can't talk to me like this!" He grunted and growled as he slowly got back to his paws with the young adult staring at him with surprise and shock. "I am king Ingelozi, the rightful owner of the pride and the north lands." He was still weak on his legs but that was better than the situation which Kopa found himself in. "And I won't be humiliated by a spoiled brat of a worthless king."

But those words brought all the anger and the determination back in Simba's son. "You are no king, you are a joke!" Kopa answered with anger. "I am no brat, I AM the son of the greatest king of all times. I am a king myself, and you will leave the pride lands with your pride and never return."

Now, Ingelozi got back to his overconfident self. "Now this is where you are wrong pridelander, I have come here to stay." He replied and raised his paw to strike at Kopa going into a defensive position.

Yet before the brown male could strike him, he stopped as he spotted a dark brown figure coming up behind the golden furred male. His gaze wandered up and down that lion standing now beside Kopa as his eyes widened. "You!?"

The golden furred prince stared at the male as well as he was also surprised and completely unable to get what was going on. Kichwa gave him Kopa an encouraging nod as he ordered him to get back to his paws. "Come on, I need you with this." He said and Simba's son got even more confused before finally standing on his feet again.

"I should have left you to your demise that day back home!" It was a weird choice of words which Ingelozi used to address the kingdom they left behind. Yet Kichwa simply growled back at him with his body standing in an offensive stance. The anger and the rage inside the brown furred king got bigger and bigger as he charged forward.

The northlander king swung his paw at Kopa who got pushed down by Kichwa as Ingelozi missed the golden prince. But at the same time, he received a bow from Ubuvila's mate and the king began to stumble backwards. Kopa came from below and brought his head up to collide with Ingelzi's chin. The brown male was now standing solely on his back paws as Kichwa kicked him in the stomach with his back paw. Ingelozi stood now at the edge of the ledge and almost felt the ground underneath him vanishing.

In the last second, he saw Kopa coming at him and barely made it to the side with Nala's son only catching dead air. He himself was now balancing on the edge as both enemies shared a hateful and despising stare. Time seemed to have slowed down as Kopa could see the end near. He stared to the side and saw the right paw of the king coming towards him once more. If Ingelozi would hit him, he would fall off and surely would die. Just at the last moment, he dove underneath and the older male lion swung into emptiness.

While he tumbled along the way, Kopa put all his energy into one last hit and rammed his head against the chin of Ingelozi who was about to go over the edge. And just in that moment, Kichwa came from the back and gave the king of the northlands a move what wrestlers would call a dropkick. Completely losing the ground underneath him, Ingelozi tumbled backwards and went over as he stared at horror at the last glimpses of the two young lions that sealed his faith. Uncontrollable, he sailed down and let out a panic filled and almost scary scream.

And then he collided with the ground and his neck gave away a nasty sound and broke immediately. All the fighting going on at the feet of pride rock stopped and the two prides stared at the figure that fell down from the ledge of the huge rock formation. Their gazeds wandered back to the top where they hope to spot the reason why king Ingozi had fell from above.

Up ahead, Kopa lied on his side as he tried to rest for a short moment. But he soon gained back some strength and slowly and heavy breathing got back onto his paws. There were slight laughs coming out of his muzzle and he waited until he stood safe before he directed his gaze to the sky. He gazed towards Kichwa as the dark brown male stared down onto the ground where the uncle of Ubuvila had fallen to. "Thanks! I'm Kopa by the way."

The dark brown male didn't respond any special which mad the golden furred prince realize that Kichwa didn't knew who he was and what his story had been. "I'm Kichwa!"

Both gave each other appreciating nod, and with a heavy breath, Kopa inhaled and then roared.

Down below, Kiara and Vitani stopped right beside each other as they spotted the golden furred male on top giving away this loud proud noise. "He did it!" The acting queen said towards the tan female.

Vitani stared as well at her cubhood friend and smiled in an almost dreamy way. "He sure did!"

Back on the ledge, Kopa was finally able to breathe calmly again. The sight of the northlander king lying lifeless on the ground felt like a huge rock falling off from hid back. It was then that he got his vivios of the dark brown male standing right beside him which forced him to open his muzzle. "Thanks!" He said and padded Kichwa on the shoulder while the two never locked eyes on each other until… "By the way! Who the hell are you?"

That was enough for the two to finally look at each other and widen their eyes. Kichwa glared slightly to the side and then getting ready to answer. "That's a long story!"

Up on the very top of pride rock, the battle was not finished yet. The male leopard Konde had his claws hammered in the stone of pride rock as he hung from the top for his life. Over him on the edge stood the queen of the north lands Ikhaya. The light brown female snarled at the animal below as she once in a while swung her paw over his head to mock and eventually force him to let go.

Konde despised the arrogant and mocking laughter that came from the northlander and he crunched his teeth to not lose his temper. Though he was bigger than the average male leopard, fighting a full grown lioness was still a huge task. But then again, he never intended to land in this precarious situation.

"You know… I always wondered if leopards could fly." The female said as she brought her head down and sank her claws into the paws of Konde who snarled out in pain. "Looks like it's time that we find out." She said and grinned even more viciously. "Actually, I have to think about it. I am a queen; one of the higher beings of lions. The only ones I should mess myself with should be queens and lions from the same caliber as me. But now I have to test my strength with a leopard, an even lesser being than the pridelanders that are living inside of our kingdom."

But her run was suddenly interrupted as both of them heard a frightened screamed from below. Ikhaya recognized the voice right at once and stared over the edge as she just could see a brown figure falling off from pride rock into its doom. Her eyes widened and Konde could hear a slight 'No!' escaping her muzzle.

Konde realized that the female was distracted for a short moment and he quickly reacted as he pushed himself up with all his might slashing the lioness across her face and sinking his claws into her fur. He used his other paw to sink his claws into the side of her neck. Their eyes met for a short moment and the former arrogance had vanished from Ikhaya's face and was now replaced with horror and panic. "You know what… they can't! But last time I checked… neither do lions."

With that, he pulled her towards him as Ikhaya lost grip and sailed over the edge and into her doom as well. In the last second, the male leopard managed to ram his paws into the stone again and avoided falling after the female lion. Ikhaya's scream could be heard all over the kingdom but without him spending time to gaze at her.

He made another leap and was now half back on solid ground. His lungs and his front legs hurt as he came crawling back on top and lying down for a short moment just like Kopa did. Finally being able to stare down from the top, he noticed the dark brown and golden spots that stood down below. The fall of Ikhaya must have been even heavier than the one of the king as he saw the queen of the north lands lying in a position that even I don't want to describe right now.

With still weak legs, the leopard began his climb back down to get together with his lion friends seeing that the war finally seemed to be over.

* * *

He had found himself in this position way to often in life before. His breath was heavy, his vision was blurry and every inch of his body as filled with pain. Mwehu stood on his weak legs and growled at the northlander in front of him. The pale cream male's left eye was half closed and covered with blood as a huge cut had opened above it. Another huge chunk of his right ear was bitten off.

Across from him, the northlander Umnikozi had to fight with the same problems while tumbling and waiving from side to side. Slowly, the two tumbled towards each other with Mwehu beginning to laugh at the invading male. "I wonder how your friends are doing back at pride rock." Umnikozi said and tried to get the scarred lion a little bit more out of his reserve.

"Whatever they're doing, they're probably better off than your friends which I slaughtered moments ago." Mwehu replied with a forced laugh before he coughed and spit some blood onto the ground. "But don't worry, you're going to be with them within seconds."

The statement made the northlander giggle and scream out with laughter before he began shooting bullets into the maneless male's eyes. "You are even crazier than I think you are. You can barely stand on your feet, how in the world do you think that you can bring me down with the way you look?" He said and had to fight to not lose balance and fell to the ground. "Me! One of the highest skilled fighters of the north lands."

But Mwehu stared to the side with amusement and rubbed some blood out of his face. "I have been up against far more dangerous things than you hobbyfighters. And I…" He wanted to go on but suddenly felt his legs shivering underneath him and stopped to keep a safe stance on his paws. He breathed heavy and then stared up to the northlander again.

"Oh yes, I want to see how you are going to stop me." He was now only inches away from the pale cream lion as Mwehu kept staring to the ground unable to keep his eyes open for more than a few seconds. He realized by now that Umnikozi was slightly bigger than the scarred male from the jungle. "Now come on little lion, show me what you got!" He challenged him and tapped Kopa's friend on the back.

The pale cream male kept gazing and felt a sudden feeling of happiness rising inside his body. _Hach How I missed this! _He thought and with a fast motion, he kicked the northlander once again in the sensitive section. Umnikozi growled out in pain and sank to the ground immediately rolling around in pain. By now, Mwehu towered over him and the brown male stared up through heavy and exhausted mutters.

"Is this your answer to every superior opponent, playing dirty and cheap tricks? Is that the way you avoid fair fights if they don't favor you?"

But the scarred maneless lion just towered over him and brought hi muzzle closer to him. "I don't remember this being a fair fight from the beginning. This was a fight for survival and not for reputation." He began padding over to him and was standing above the northlanders. "And you know what, the thing with fair fights. They give you a reputation… but they don't make you survive." With that, he locked the lion's head between his back legs before he jumped up and made a turn mid air. The neck of Umnikozi broke at once and the northlander went limb at once.

Slowly, the scarred male got back on his paws and stared back down at the lifeless body and how he was able to defeat three of the best fighters in the north lands.

However, he was so satisfied with himself that he didn't realize that a figure was sneaking up from behind. And then it jumped at him. Before the pale cream male could react, a lion had come from behind and sunk his fangs into the neck of the male and catching him completely by surprise and shock. Slowly, Mwehu was brought down from his spot with the strange male pulling his head away from him. Blood spread out of Mwehu and Itshe left a hole in the neck of the scarred lion.

Mwehu stared up as Itshe spit some blood onto the ground and grinned nasty at one of his most hated enemies. The pale cream one gulped and tried to say something, but his voice was caught in the blood that came running out of his wound and his muzzle. His stare became milky as Itshe began to speak out.

"You know, for years I have plotted in the dark and in the background. I never had to go out to the front and fight my battles myself. But ever since those two pridelanders came into our home, I have been on my edge, been even more careful to not lose my temper and my cool. And now that I see you in front of me, I have become that lion being controlled by his rage and anger."

Kopa's friend wanted to give back some retorts but was to weak and too heavily injured to call back to the beige male. His vision was fading and for the first time in his life, he realized that this was going to be the end. But Itshe didn't care for that as he kept talking. "I would love to see you die in front of me. But there are still some things going on my own kingdom that I have to address. And without disrespect, I have much more important things to take care about than you."

Before he walked away from the pale cream male, he spit into Mwehu's face as he gave away his last throes. Mwehu stared after the beige former pridelander as he disappeared into the distance as his own vision became black and he lost conscience.

* * *

**Author's note: **So this ends the fight and the life of Ingelozi. Next week we are going after Itshe since you might notice that not everything had been concluded by now.

There was yet another reference to "DragonBall Z" abridged from Teamfourstar. It's from their parody of the DBZ movie "Lord Slug" which I thought was really hilarious and fitted the part of Mwehu perfectly.

Alright… with this chapter finished we now have only two to go. One is the conclusion of Itshe's story and then we have a long and dragging epilogue. So… see you next week.


	18. Insane in the membrane

Hey guys!

For today's chapter, I have not that much to say than what I already told last week. The only thing that I have to give is yet another warning. After the rather heavy violence that happened in the last chapter. This thing will get a bit more… creepy. Basically, parts that are happening her are the reason why I gave this story a T Rating.

**Reldor: **Sorry, but that was one of the things that were sure from the very beginning.

* * *

Chapter 18: insane in the membrane 

All was lost, the pridelander had triumphed and the northlander didn't even bother fighting as they saw both their kin and queen sailing down from ride rock into their doom. The tross of defeated lions marched slowly over the border with the pridelanders watching them from behind. The only one that wasn't walking along these lions was the former pridelander Itshe.

He for his part was far away and was already close to crossing the border between the two kingdoms. The sun had already set and the night was filled with stars spread around the sky. Since the king and queen failed to take over the pride lands, he himself felt the need to take care of a thing that was chewing on him for the last hours and days.

In front of him, Itshe could see the north lands and he inhaled deeply as he took a small glare back to pride rock before glancing at the only home he had left. "I know what you must be thinking right now, what happened to me that I became the lion that I am right now? And you are ashamed of the being that I have come out to be." He said almost to himself as he gazed towards the ground below and.

"It's not shame, its disappointment and shock about what happened to you." A voice from the back appeared and out of the shadows stepped the oldest lioness that was currently living in the ride pride lands. Kimae took her eyes on her son for a short moment but couldn't bare the sight of him for that long. "You know, I never could forgive myself for not watching out for you more often." She continued to walk over to him. "And I'm sorry that you had to grow up being infected with this evil."

Yet the beige male just chuckled and answered right on the spot. "Sorry?! For what?" His voice seemed almost surreal to everyone who would have walked by. It was cold on one side, but on the other side still was a certain degree of insanity coming through. "I have to be thankful, if Scar wouldn't have brought me under his support as his protégé; I would have never achieved and will never achieve what I am going to do."

Kimae raised her eyebrows as she heard Itshe talk like that and perked her ears up at once. "What you are about to do? What do you mean, the war is over, the king and queen are dead. What is there for you to do?" She asked curious but regretted it the moment she stared into the yellow eyes of her son.

"What Scar had always planned with me, I'm going to become king of the north lands. There's still one member of the royal family left that I am willing to have a big part in my plans." He said again and stared at the older female with crazy and blazing eyes. The female pridelander shook back a little as she saw the gazes which her son was throwing around. Itshe caught it right at once and began to feel his rage growing to an incomprehensible height. "Come on mom, I know that you want to save me, you want to say that there is still hope for me." He said with his voice getting louder and more enraged every second.

He was right in the face of Kimae who didn't dare to hold his gaze. "You want me to stop before this gets out of hand, and you want to tell me that you are still my mother and that you will help me get back together with the rest of the pride. Come on…_say it_! SAY IT! I KNOW THAT YOU WANT TO." Itshe brought his head forth and his mother shook it back again avoiding him completely.

With a satisfied glance, the beige male slowly turned back and mocked her even more. "You can't! Because you know what I am capable of and what I want to do." He continued without even waiting for an answer. "But it doesn't matter. Nothing what you think or know will matter by the end of tomorrow. And you know what makes me the most happy?" He half asked and half made clear just to get her attention.

And so Kimae raised her gaze to look at him with despise and horror. Itshe brought his muzzle close to her head and whispered into her ear. "That whatever you think or know, there will be nobody that you will be able to tell." With that, he grasped her head and buried her face in his chest. Kimae struggled as hard as she could as her nose and her breathing got surprised by her. With a nasty glare, Itshe to his mother suffocating in his grasp. After a whole minute, the lioness in his front legs went limb and he let her drop to the ground.

Without giving her another glare, he walked off and left the last bit of compassion and humanity behind.

* * *

Konde's paws felt weak and defeated. He could saw the blood on them which was caused by him hammering them so deep into the stone that he cut them open. But at least he was alive, and so he looked forth to getting back down and congratulate Kopa on what he had done this evening.

Down on the ledge, the rest of the pride walked up to the scene taking place right in front of the cave if the pride of acting queen Kiara and king Kovu. Tojo gave Mto and Naima a warm nuzzle as he the two walking over to them after the battle was over. Away from him, Malka and Tama shared the same motion being glad that t was finally over.

Along with Mbio and Kivuli he sat down just as the leopard came around the corner and stared at all the lions who were taking huge breaths of relief. He padded the dark ochre male on the shoulder and gave him a quick nod with Tojo's son returning it with pleasure. Mbio and Kivuli stared completely taken aback at the sight that they to their right and Malka's son opened his muzzle to question the thing going on here. "Wha…"

"Shh!" Mto went in between and the duo silenced following the paw which the dark ochre male was pointing with. They stared to the side and saw Kopa standing just a few feet in front of the golden/cream acting queen.

For the first time in their lives, the two siblings stared into each other's eyes not sure what to do with the situation going on. Both shifted their gazes off from each other as everybody could see how nervous they were. Even Kichwa, Moyo and Akili, who was supporting her sister since she was unable to stand on her own, had no idea what was going on.

Finally, Kopa had enough and spoke out to his sister while moving his front paw nervously through the dirt. "So uhm…" Kiara giggled shortly and staring to the side again. She had her ears leaned back and threw one of her sly smiles at her brother. "Yeah well… uhm… hi!?" It finally came out from Simba's son and the female perked her ears up a little bit.

"Hehe… yes eh… hi too!" She answered and the two kept avoiding each other's gazes.

"Oh brother!" Vitani muttered under her breath and facepalmed while resting one of her paws on Sabini's shoulder.

But the two didn't listen to her and now were finally able to glare and smile at each other. Kopa directed his head to pride rock and kept looking around the location. "So… nice place you got here. I feel some memories coming back to me." He joked and brought some lighthearted tone into his voice before Kiara went forth and wrapped her front legs around his neck.

The golden furred prince was a bit surprised by the golden/cream female's move, but he just smiled and rubbed his head against her neck. "I always thought about how to react if this day would have come." She whispered to him and let go. "Yet I could have never believed that this would come true." He voice was filled with joy and relief while the rest of the pride began to gasp in awe. They separated and Kopa as well as Kiara stared into the round.

"So that's Kiara's brother?" Naima asked silently into the ear of Nuru who nodded her head in agreement. Niyani's daughter observed the golden male again before she continued. "Say what you will, he sure looks fine!" She said which was followed by a 'He sure does' from Moyo and another quieting call from Niyani in the back.

Right in that moment, the trio of Tama, Sabini and Vitani walked up to the newfound family and the tarnish/orange lioness smirked at the prince. "Kopa!" She said glad and gentle with at Simba's son.

"Hi auntie Tama!" Kopa quickly replied before his gaze fell on the tan female which he had called his best friend for such a long time. She wasn't quite the way he remembered her. She looked a bit more roughed and thinned out than back when they were living together in the pride lands. And there was a certain detail he believed he had never seen in the female's face. She was about to cry.

He continued to stare at her and realized that it might be the best for him to make the first step again. "Uhm… Ta-… I mean VI-tani!" He finally said out and remembered how she always hated to be called by that name.

But he wasn't prepared for what was going to happen next. The tan lioness that always acted like the strongest cub that has ever been threw herself at him and the two fell backwards onto the ground with Vitani rubbing her head against Kopa's and shedding a few tears. "You can call me Tani as much as you like!" The prince didn't even dare to argue and just grinned while returning the gesture. He threw a short glance towards his leopard friend who shrugged his shoulders as if to say. 'females'.

On the other side, the young adults around Mbio and Nuru were a bit taken aback by the gestures Vitani and Kopa shared with Naima getting her muzzle closer to her brother and whispering into his ear. "Did I miss something?"

The two lions released each other and Kopa got back to his paws as the tan female gave him a curious glare. "But how in the great king's name did you survive and come back. Why did you wait till now to come back?" She asked with a frown now getting curious about what happened to her cubhood friend.

"Hach!" The golden furred male replied with a sigh before saying a sentence that might have turned into a catchphrase by now. "That is a really long story." He answered and was about to go on as Kiara beside stared around worried out of the sudden and waiving her head around.

It seemed like she was searching for someone; and Kopa didn't have to think twice in order to realize who it was. "Kovu?!" She called out silently. "Has anybody seen Kovu?" She continued to call even more worried. But the lionesses left simply shook their head and the acting queen let her ears drop a little before she was back on her edges.

"I'm here, I'm alright!" It sounded from the back and short after, the golden furred male came into view still shaking and rubbing his head. "I just got the wind knocked out of me. And with that, the other one got away." He said under his frustrated breath while Kiara raced forward and nuzzled him with relief and joy. "But he got away, he just outsmarted me."

While each one off the others tried to put together what happened to Zira's son, Kichwa right at once spoke out. "Itshe!"

He received surprised and taken aback gazes from the pride and stared around while the acting king and queen were occupied in a completely different way. "MOM, DAD!" A high pitched and tiny voice hailed through the air and both Kiara and Kovu swung their heads around and the female's face lit up even more.

Up from the side, came a golden furred female cub accompanied by a brown furred male cub. They quickly jumped on top of the stony ledge and straight ahead raced towards their mother with both of them shouting out and yelling in joy. Chaka and Shani right away rubbed their heads against the muzzle of Kiara who dropped to the ground in front of them with her front legs spread out in front of her.

"Oh my little ones!" She called and was unable to hold back tears of joys while she embraced her cubs warmly. Right after the two young lions were done greeting their mother, they turned their attention to their father who right away brought his head down as well rubbing his chin across their backs.

In that moment, the head of the acting queen came up and she spotted the two lionesses that came along accompanying her son and daughter. Like the lots of times before, the lions and lionesses around pride rock were completely surprised and had no idea who the duo was that came around and walked surprisingly towards Kopa. "Thank you Yaki!" He said as he greeted the tan/cream female with a nuzzle. "I owe you one!" He said into her ear and Yaki giggled as he said that.

"Not really! But thanks anyway!" She answered and pulled away from her before Taikamu went forth and did the same.

Vitani for her part eyed the two lionesses with narrowed down eyes. If her mind wasn't so completely blown by the events of the last hours, she would have slapped herself for being jealous in this situation. But she recovered and just smirked walking over to her old friend and seeing the other female. "Wow, you really have a lot to talk about." She said to him as she came to a halt beside Koa and grinned at the tan/cream lioness.

The eyes of the two met and Kopa right away had an idea for what was going on. "Well… Vitani, this is Yaki… she helped me get through a tough time. And this Vitani, she was my closest friend as a cub." He said quickly and quickly tried to turn the subject back to the pride and the problems at hand. His eyes locked on Kichwa and he slowly walked over to him. "Thanks Kichwa! But I have to know, what is the deal with you in all of this?"

Kichwa stared into the round and took a short breath before beginning to explain. "We came here to help the pride lands in the fight against the north lands. And with Itshe being, this fight is still not over." He added and Tama as well as Sabini came walking over to them.

"That is a pridelander name." She pointed out as she observed the three lions that stood along the group and had not been seen before.

And the young dark brown adult countered with a nod and continued to say. "Yes! Those are my sisters Moyo and Akili. My parents are Chumvi and Kula!"

It was like the wind getting knocked out from all the lions present. They couldn't believe that the three lions standing in front of them were the cubs of their long lost friends. Tama right away came forth and smirked at the young male in front of her. "Hm… now that you mention it, you three really look like the two." She said and smiled over to Tojo, Sabini and Malka before staring back at her. "So… what is it with this Itshe?"

Again, Kichwa took a deep breath finally feeling that he had the full attention to tell his story. "Ingelozi and Itshe overthrew the father of my mate king Ingozi. I still believe that they even killed the old king Isitha." The group listened carefully as the dark brown male spoke. "For a long time, Itshe seemed like friendly and nice guy. But when Ingelozi took control, he showed his true face and began to hunt my parents down." He finished and could already see the questions on the lions' faces.

"Why that! Was his hate for the pridelanders that big?"

"Not really! It was just the hate for those two. The lions he send after us were talking about a special score he had to settle with." Kichwa answered and for the first time, Konde came into the middle and spoke up himself.

Kichwa stopped right away as he saw the leopard standing beside him and clearing his throat. "Now he must have been a really troublemaker. If he has a score to settle with your parents, and makes Mwehu responsible for his misery, which a lot of animals do by the way, that doesn't speak for a flawed anger management."

Like somebody used the telephone, 50:50 and the audience joker, Malka's mind in the back made click and he right away came forth shouting to gain the attention of the rest. "I got it!" Tama and Sabini were right on their edge and perked their ears up. "Who could be the only one that would feel a gigantic hate towards all three of them, Kula, Chumvi and Mwehu." He realized how the others stared at him without a clue. "Who's heart did Kula break. Who's figure was disgraced by Mwehu, one that the two would know about, and who would be the center of all that if one's heart was broken by Kula?"

The idea struck straight through the four friends they all said out at the same time. "JIWE!"

* * *

While the group at pride rock was being busy with getting up to date, Itshe had already reached the borders of the north lands. Without taking a look back, the beige male entered his new home and already caught the scent of the pride that once belonged to Ingelozi. He could smell that they were trolling slowly the landscape and had little to no fight left in them. The defeat they took at pride rock was way too much for them to bare.

With the war for the pride lands being gone, there was only one thing left for him to do. And that was the revenge of that two pridelanders hiding from the northlanders somewhere in this kingdom. Yet he had no idea if the group he send out to find them and their friends was successful. And so he kept padding through the north lands until he reached a small glade on top of a hill in the middle of a forest.

He raised his nose and sniffed the air. And it didn't take long for him until he caught the scent of the lions he was anxious to see right now. And to make things even more easy, he wasn't even that far away. Itshe gave four short roars and he stared around the place before the light brown male stepped into view and bowed before the beige lion.

"Itshe!" Kwelanga said and greeted the former pridelander just walking to the side of him with Itshe never stopping. "I met some of our pride along the way. It seems like the pridelanders have defeated us." He continued but without making eye contact with Itshe.

Ingelozi's partner in crime growled as he heard the word defeat but didn't really bother about the physical and mental state of the pride. All he cared about now was to achieve something that no other lion of a simple subject matter had ever down, to unify complete power in a solely person. "The pridelanders have not seen the last of us. Right now we need to find those fugitives that are living in our homeland. After that, we can think about the pridelanders and our revenge."

He had not completely stopped his speech when he realized the doubt that was set in the other male. He frowned and tried to stare the light brown male down. "Do I sense some sign of rebellion in you?" He questioned bringing his face closer towards Kwelanga. "Do you really want to deny the wish of your king Ingelozi and me?"

"With all honesty, I doubt that thinking about getting back to the kingdom of Simba is the right way. We need time to solve our own problems. Since you have been gone, the ones that have not been approving the course of Ingelozi have regrouped and are willing to take the kingdom back. And they fletch their loyalty towards Ubuvila! She is the only one of the royal family that seems to be alive."

Itshe stared at the light brown male before growling slightly. "That can be changeable. We just need to find her and the others." He eyed the other lion with a mistrust and annoyance. "And the reason for you being unable to find them is because that you just didn't know where to search." Kwalenga wanted to say something but got interrupted by the beige male. "Luckily for us, I know exactly what to do about that."

_[Later that night]_

The weeks of hiding and constantly being on edge caused their tribute. Ubuvila was exhausted as she left Kichwa's parents and her friend Ithunzi and walked down towards a waterhole just at the edge of their hideout. Not only was she thinned out from the weeks of hiding, but the fact that she also had no idea how the conflict between the two kingdoms was going on was chewing on her mind. And for that she tried to relax her head and get a clear mind. With a slow motion, she stuck her tongue into the liquid and enjoyed it going down her throat.

She didn't know how often she had tried to think a bit more positive while she waited for any sign of her new family and how they were doing. But the only thing she got right now was the scene of some lions of her pride wandering around the north lands again, and Ubuvila didn't know if that was a good sign or not.

"Wow, what a beautiful sight this is!"

The voice let all the veins in her body freeze and bring all of her body movements to a halt. Slowly and with wide eyes, she raised her head and could see the source of the voice calling out to her. Not that far away from her stood not only Itshe, but also Kwelanga and a group of about seven other lions who all had their locked on her and were ready to chase the brown female if she would try to run.

_How in the world did they find me? _She asked herself frustrated and shocked. All the time, she tried to be as careful as possible. But somehow, she slipped up and allowed the group to catch her. What was Itshe even doing here, did this mean that the northlanders had won and that Itseh and his troop finally had time to chase after them.

Ubuvila didn't even dare to answer while Itshe came walking up to her and smiled down on the completely frightened female. "I guess that there is no other option for you then to end your little game of hide and seek. Or else I'll make sure that you will never be able to see anyone else again your entire life.

* * *

"So! Scar lied to us. Jiwe didn't run away, he was taken under Scar protection and has been made his protégé." Nafsi said frustrated as she glared into the round of lions still being unable to grasp all the turns and events that had been revealed to them over the last hours.

Beside her, the rest of the pride listened careful at Tama and Tojo telling the story of Jiwe and how he turned from a small innocent cub into a crazy adult. "So if Jiwe is still out there, he's probably heading back to finish the job." The tarnish/orange female said and eyed the trio of the young lions that stood in their midst. "Where are they anyway?"

Right then, Akili got up from her spot where she tried to clean her injury she had sustained during the battle. "Two of our friends are hiding them somewhere in the north lands. I guess now that their plan has failed, they will concentrate on finding them."

"And that means we have to find them!" Kichwa threw in and directed his gaze towards the group around him. He stared over to the golden furred prince Kopa as he stepped up to him and stared directly into his eyes. "They are my family, can I count on you?" He asked with all honesty and showed everyone that he really was worried about his parents and his mate (to think that he wouldn't would be stupid anyway.)

Kopa glared to the side, and then back on the dark brown male in front of him. "Sure! I want to bring this to an end just like you do. And I still owe you." He said and the two smirked before Kopa clapped Kichwa on the shoulder. "What about you old friend? I can surely use that nose of yours." He added as he stared over at Konde who was rubbing his head.

The yellow furred female looked left and right before he gave the young adult an assuring smirk. "Sure, why not."

In the back, Tama, Malka and Tojo nodded their heads as they stepped up again. "You can't count on us as well. They're our friends as well, besides… we could really look forward to give our old pal Jiwe a small lection in behavior." Malka said with the three giving the prince and the north/pridelander an encouraging nod.

Already, Moyo and Akili were about to call out that they would go too. But their brother quickly brought his paw up and stared at the two. "You are staying here."

Both females shot flames of fire through their eyes at their brother unable to believe that he was ordering them around. "Hey hotshot! They are our parents as well. Don't think that we don't want to part in rescuing them." Akili warned him and limbed over to her brother.

But Kula's son just stared at them and countered with calm and care. "You right in that, but look at you. You can't even walk properly. Please, just this once… listen to me." He almost pleaded as he gestured heavily with his front paws. The two siblings were now only inches away from each other and Kichwa's eyes got even more pleading with the two before Akili began to smile and rubbed the chin of her brother with the top of her head. They quickly departed and he stared over to his other sister. "You keep a close eye on her!" He called over and Moyo nodded her head.

Beside them, Konde and Kopa got together with the lion speaking out to his leopard friend. "WE should get Mwehu in this as well. He would never forgive us if we keep him out of this fight."

"You got that right!" Konde answered before he waived his head around and searched the area for him. "Where is that crazy idiot anyway?"

"Wherever he is, he sure is in trouble." Kopa said silently before he turned his attention back towards the rest of the lions present. "We better keep moving, Itshe already has a giant head start on us."

_[Miles away]_

_No! No yet!_

That was all that went through his mind, all that was able to run through his mind. Besides that, the only thing he felt was the pain going through his whole body. His vision was basically nonexistent by now and the only thing he could hear were blur and echos in his ears which he couldn't make out in the distant.

Mwehu didn't even know where he was crawling to. And besides a slight silhouette that he somehow could make out in the distance, there was nothing that helped him orientate himself. To even get back his conscience was already a surprise to him and he didn't know hw it happened and how long it was going to last. But Mwehu was sure that it wasn't going to last long.

He could fell his body going even more limb than it already was. And there was one thing that went through his mind which didn't let go of him. _If this is what dying feels like, than death is overrated._

Once again, he could hear distant yells and sounds echoing in his head and hailing through his mind. But like all the time, he couldn't distinct them. And his eyes were no help as his vision got black from one second to another and then just showed burs and silhouettes that basically showed only dark and light.

"No, no NO!" Was a slight voice that reached his ear but he had no idea where it came from and who it was.

Another fade to black in his ear and then he heard only parts of a conversation. _"Come on Mwehu […] die on me."_

Another voice. "[…] _the chances of him surviving are…"_

"_I DON'T CARE! JUST DO SOMETHING!"_ Now that voice he heard loud and clear. The source of that voice directly sounded beside his ear. But he was unable to turn his head and look at the source as the voice continued. _"… he saved my life… twice." _By now, the voices were so distant that he didn't even bother. All he wanted this time was sleep and rest.

His eyes were constantly closed and he just let it happen and lost conscious again.

* * *

Kula awoke in the middle of the night and turned her head around to look towards the sky. The moon shined in a strange yellow light and was astonishingly big that night. She turned her heed around again to stare at the dark brown male she rested her head on. Another glare to the side showed the beige male Ithunzi sitting not far away from her and gazing into the distance with worried glares.

She slowly and carefully got to her feet and tried to not make Chumvi wake up as she walked over to the mate of her daughter Akili. "Is there something wrong Ithunzi?" She asked concerned as she came from the back .

Ithunzi didn't turn around to face her but sighed heavy and directed his gaze to the sky as well. "Ubuvila has been gone for quite for a while; she just wanted to get a quick sip from the waterhole. But that just takes too long tonight." He replied with a worried voice and shoved his paw over the grassy ground nervously.

"Maybe she decided to go hunting for the night, if a zebra or an impala has dropped by, why not take the chance?" Kula answered as she laid a paw on the shoulder of the beige male. He slowly switched his head around and could see the caramel female smiling over at him. For a moment, he gave her a smile as well and Kula continued. "Just relax, she's going to be fine." She walked back and lied down on top of Chumvi's chest and quickly went into a small slumber on top of her mate.

Back on his place, Ithunzi gazed again at the moon and sighed again. Rustling in the back made his ear perk up and twirl around to see who was stepping out of the bush. A sigh of relief escaped his muzzle and he was glad to see the princess coming over to him again. "Thenk the great ingonyama, you are back. I was beginning to worry." He said but noticed the sad face she made. Ithunzi frowned and began to ask. "What's wrong?"

Ubuvila stared to the ground and simply said with a sigh. "I'm sorry! I didn't pay attention."

He had no idea what she meant. But that changed when he was the beige figure marching through the bush and being followed by another group of lions. He already realized who it was and his muzzle dropped open as he saw his father. "Goos evening!" He said with a voice that made Ithunzi shiver.

In the back, Kula got shaken up by the voice and she stared over at the group with dreamy eyes. It didn't take long and she realized what was going which made her gasp out loud. "Chummy!"

At once, the dark brown male was awake as he and Kula got to their feet glaring at the lions that began to surround them and short after had basically closed in on them completely. "Now! Did you really think, you could escape from me forever?" The consultant mocked them and walked just in front of the pridelanders. "You know what. I actually wanted to keep you in the dark but, the little invasion that Ingelozi planned out went wrong and the pridelanders were victorious."

Even though Kula and Chumvi should be relieved by that, they still couldn't hold back on the fact that Itshe was standing in front of them and basically was looking forward to end their lives. "But enough of that, the most important thing is that I have all three of you around me." He looked over to his son who just stood there while a male lions came up behind him ready to hold him down. "That's right my dear son, I don't have any need for you."

The caramel pridelander just stared at him and narrowed her eyes to a point where she was getting even more curious. "You know, I don't get it! What is it with you, we have never done anything to you, why do you hate us that much?" She asked a bit panicked while moving closer towards her mate.

But Itshe only chuckled at that and began walking around the trio. "Never done anything in your life!? That's a good one; you really began to go down on the miserable intelligence level of that moron mate of yours." He insulted CHumvi which the darkbrown male just let happen and kept his position beside Kula. "Maybe that attempt to drown you in the waterhole really did something with your brain. But I think I can catch up with that."

The lightning struck both Kula and Chumvi with all its power and might. Their muzzles dropped open and the female only brought out one word. "No!" Defeat spoke out of her voice and Itshe only nodded his head. "Jiwe!"

"Oh yes!"

As quickly as possible, Kula and Chumvi got to their feet and tried to escape. But the lions quickly grabbed both of them and pulled them away from each other. In the back, Kwalenga grasped Ubuvila and another male pressed Ithunzi to the ground. All four of them were completely overpowered and just had nothing to do then to watch the beige male beginning to losing it. "How ironic! Of all the places you could have gone to, it was the one where I had already made a living in. The coincident are just unbelievable."

Chumvi growled and tried to move. But he couldn't and stared back up the beige adult. "Does Ingelozi know what you are doing here?" he asked with a sly smile which was more forced than honest.

"Does Ingelozi know?" Itshe began and almost talked like he was in some sort of a trance. "Of course not. Like all the others, he misses the clear mind to get what brilliance I hold inside myself. That and the fact that he is dead!" He added a nasty chuckle to the last words he said.

"Back in the pride lands, I was nothing, I was never privileged with having the gift of being a royal. Unlike Istitha, Ingelozi, Ingozi, Ikhya; all the lions with the I's in front of their names. When I was a cub, there wasn't even a place for me to live in the pride lands. Not after you destroyed my life. Where could I go?" All the time he talked, his voice got louder and louder while his gestures got more and more dramatic.

"And then the best thing of my life happened, I got taken in by Scar." He waited for their reaction and just saw even more color disappearing out of their faces. "He took me in, he taught me the way of gaining complete power." He had now locked his eyes on the two pridelanders and continued.

"Who ended the pride wars? All the years, Isitha claimed it to be, I was the one manipulating and conspire in the background while he was the one claiming the praise. I was the one making out the details of his takeover, of the death of your father. If it wouldn't have been for me, there would be no king Isitha, no king Ingelozi and… no war."

Ubuvila growled as she heard what Ithunzi's father was saying. Yet she was completely helpless to do anything against it.

"But with all the things happening, there was still one thing that was denied from me for eternity. And that is being a king. But thank the great kings, the great Ingonyama… argh… whatever, there is a way to end this." He turned away from Kula and Chumvi and faced the now shivering Ubuvila. "With Ingelozi and Ikhaya dead… yeah that's right… dead; you my dear princess are the last living member of the royal family. And once I bonded with you, I am the new king of the north lands."

Ithunzi growled underneath the pressure of the lions as he yelled out to his father. "So! In the end, you're just another sick lion that searches for power." He called and short after felt the despicable glare of his father falling onto him.

"What can I say, I have to be adaptable. Your mother knows that by now. You should see her; she _has _accepted the fact that I am the supreme being in this world." The younger beige male didn't even have the nerve to respond to that as he simply stared away from his father unable to hold his gaze.

He smirked at her and all the three other lions knew what he was up to. But then again, he turned away from the female and back on Kula and Chumvi. "But first, I have to get rid of some old battlefield injuries." With a nasty smirk, he walked over to the caramel female who struggled underneath the grasp of the lion holding her down. "Come on Kula, turn around!"

Panic reached Chumvi's face in a level that he had never felt before. "Jiwe! If you touch her…"

"You will do _nothing!_ You will still be unable to move away from my friends. And you will have to sit through this, just as I had to sit through you taking her away from me." By now, Kula lied on her stomach with the male lion still standing on her and Kula trying to move free. "But relax… _Chummy!_ I'm not doing this because of the love I felt for her." He was no standing on top of the female lion and turned around towards Chumvi gain. "This is just for the thrill of me doing it." Ubuvila's growls got louder and louder before Itshe looked up towards her. "Don't worry princess, you will be next!"

With everyone just staring at them with shock. JItshe began to close in on Kula who stared at the helpless looking Chumvi. "Just look away Chummy. Don't watch."

"If you turn head away, I break her neck. If you move Kula, I finish him" Itshe countered quickly.

But that was one thing that triggered the last bit of bravery that was left in Kula as she turned her head around and growled at Itshe. "You know what I realized… I'm going to die anyway, so why don't you just get it over with." With that, she struggled as hard as she could and tried to shake the beige off from her. But Itshe quickly held the upper hand as he hammered her head chin first into the ground and made her go weak at once.

She groaned in pain and the beige male brought his head down so that his muzzle was on the same level as her ear. "I can't tell how long I've waited for that." And with that, he was about to begin when…

"Okay buddy… off from that lioness!" A masculine voice filled the sky and all the heads turned around when two golden and dark brown males came into view and growled at the northlanders and their prisoners. Kopa and Kichwa came running forth and Kula's son right away charged for Ithunzi's father ramming him off from his mother.

Short after, Tama , Tojo, Malka and Sabini ran in attacking the lions at once followed by Konde "Wow, you really have a great nose." Kopa added towards the leopard and his eyes locked on Jiwe.

Finally, Chumvi was able to get free and ran to aid his mate while Itshe looked around to find an escape route, but that was when he had an idea. Using the huge chaos going around, he quickly walked over to Ubuvial and pulled her up from the ground holding his claws against her throat.

Meanwhile, Kula had her head buried into Chumvi's chest while the others were fighting off the lions with success. Kichwa and Kopa worked together as they brought Kwalenga down and quickly bit down on his legs to immobilize him, they then turned around to face Ubuvila who was still in the grasps of Itshe.

"You alright Vila?" The dark brown male asked at the female who just gave him a weak and forced smile.

Itshe found himself surrounded by the pridelanders with Tama and the others eyeing him fiercely. "Come on Jiwe! Let her go, you lost. The pride lands are still free and your followers have all abandoned you. What point is there to shed even more blood?" Tama asked as she stood right beside Kula after giving her a warm welcome.

But the beige male was not so lightly driven away by that. "I'm way past the point of giving up. There's nothing else for me out there anyway. So either you back off or our little princess will be history, and wouldn't that be tragic Kichwa?"

Chumvi's son growled and went forth before Kopa put a paw in front of his chest. The two made eye contact, and the golden furred prince gave the dark brown one a glance that said. _Relax, I go this one!_ With that, he walked closer to the male lion with Konde stepping up beside him. "Any suggestions?" He asked quietly with the leopard observing the scene in front of them carefully.

"He's cautioned and on alert, I would call for something out of the blue and totally out of character."

Kopa caught that and stopped just a few steps away from Itshe. His eyes wandered off to the brown female and he gave her a slight twinkle with his eyes. "If you kill her, how long do you think you're going to survive?" He asked and tried to buy some time. "That dark brown furred guy back there would do anything to avenge his girlfriend. And you wouldn't get that far before the others will catch up with you."

But the beige male didn't listen and tightened his grip around Ubuvila. "In order for me to fall for that, I would have to actually care about it." He answered dryly and began growl.

Yet again, the golden furred male chuckled slightly before turning his head quickly to the side. "You remind of a friend of mine, he used to have the same attitude." He stared towards the ground and continued to distract Itshe. "And after all these years, I have to thank him for being like that because… I am finally able to… react to such attitude."

With that, he gave the princess a sign and she right away went forth and bit directly into the paw of Itshe. At the same time, she got out of the way with Kopa doing a very common move of the last moments. He spit into Itshe's face as the brown female got away from him. The pridelander prince went forth and smacked Itshe across the face and then sweeping him off is feet and the beige lion landed hard on the ground before he glared up and saw Kopa and Kichwa growling down on him.

As quickly as possible, he tried to get up and charge for his son who barely got to the side and sank his teeth into his father's neck while pulling him back with all his power. The beige male went limb as he landed on the ground and felt all life getting sucked out of his body. Right away, the group surrounded him.

"It… it… it was all perfect. I should have… been the one to gain the crown." He stared into the eyes of his father and gulped. "Please Ithunzi, would you let your own father die like this?" But the beige furred young adult turned away from the male before he stepped in line with the others. The last glimpses of life shined in Itshe's eyes before he closed them and the devil's apprentice was no more.

The relief that ran through Kula and Ubuvila was gigantic as the princess rubbed her head against Kichwa's and doing the same with her son. Right away, Malka and Tojo ran over to Chumvi as they knocked him over with laughter coming out of their muzzles. The joy of them seeing their long lost friend being back with them could be felt even back in the pride lands and the three already started to share stories of what they had been through over the last years.

Kopa and Kichwa kept staring at the dead lion in front of them and Kopa spoke out to the dark brown male beside him. "So… this is it!?" He half said and half asked before Kichw replied.

"Yeah, thank the great kings!" He answered and the two gazed back on the group behind them. "Thank you for your help!"

"No problem! At least we are even now!" With that, the golden furred prince cleared his throat to look at the older adults. "I guess we should head back to pride rock, all of us. There's a lot that we have to catch up with." He added with the other lions nodding their heads in agreement.

Through all the time they made their way back into the pride lands, they all chatted to catch up with lost time. The joy of finally being able to end this war and probably being able to defeat the demons of their pasts was covering all thr worries that Kopa still had. But as much as he tried to avoid it, he had to face the facts that his parents were still in that jungle and his father was dying. Mwehu was probably at the edge of death as well… and then there was that thing about him and Kiara and who was going to be the future ruler of the pridelanders.

But for now, he just was glad that he was back with his family and that he had finally been able to defeat the demons of the past that he simply smiled getting back to pride rock. The war and the fight was finally over.


	19. In the end

Well guys… this is it!

This is the final chapter of Heirs. I actually tried to avoid a long and dragging ending like in Lord of the rings. But then there was this scen and that scene, and oh… I could have these guy talk to each other again, and this question had to be solved. So we got a 8,000 Words epilogue in front of us. Hopefully it doesn't drag

**Starzinmyeyez: **Once again, had to look up mind-boggling. I hope you mean it more as in crazy or stunning than in confusing. I tried to put a bit more of that scene from Modern Warfare 2 in there. At the end when you kill Shepperd and Captain Price and Nikolaj carry you to the chopper with you being all dizzy. I like the fact that you only see small pieces of it and that the voices fade out once on in a while. Thanks for staying with the fic to the end.

**Reldor: **That was the intention, always sneaking through to make the final confrontation even more rewarding. By the way, thanks fo sticking through all three parts.

**22teamplayer: **Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment. When it comes to the villains, I have always been a bit more black and white in terms of good and bad. There is clearly a distinct line between guys like Ingelozi/Scar/Zira usw., and Characters like Simba, Nala and Kopa who are completely good guys. Jiwe/Itshe was the only characters that really kinda blurred that line with him being a bit more tragic in the beginning and more creepy at the end, with something not being his fault.

**LionKingFactsGuy2: **We're going to address these questions in this chapter, but there's nothing to worry about. Thanks for caring.

And for now, let's bring this to an end.

* * *

Chapter 19: in the end

There was still some sense and feeling in his legs as he got his conscious back. The scenery he found himself in right now was dark and he took a moment to adjust his orbs to his surroundings. He found himself in the middle of a den with a giant opening to his left. Mwehu stared around and found the cave to be enormous. This must be the place where the pridelanders were sleeping during the nights. He had never been in here before and now that he stared up to the ceiling and the walls and the dimension that this thing was dealing with, he knew why he never came in here.

"I see yu' are back!"

He recognized the voice immediately and he pressed his eyes together as he tried to suppress a yell of frustration. "I sense that you brought me back!" He said and tried to move a muscle, which didn't work at all. "You did bring me back right?" The scarred lion added and really wondered if he was finished for real, or if he was still there in this world.

Rafiki kept sitting cross legged and held on to his staff while he kept at the almost pathetic attempts of getting to his legs before he placed on of his hands on his shoulders to hold him down. "Not for now. Just relax an' stay her'." The mandrill tried to calm him down. "Yu're in no way of movin' right now."

Again, a growl of frustration escaped Mwehu's muzzle and he used the time to stare down on his body that showed so much scars and marks on his body that he didn't even bother to start counting. Annoyed and angered, he lied down and then a certain thought hit his head and he stared back on the monkey. "Did you succeed in what you planned?"

"Wat' do yu' mean?"

"You know what I mean! Am I going to die? And I don't want to hear any crap about you having to think about it or speaking around the hot stuff. I want the real deal, am I going to die or not?"

The two animals stared into each other's eyes as Mwehu waited for the answer of the mandrill.

* * *

The group of lions returned to the pride lands with the sun already shining down on the kingdom with its morning light. All the time the group had travelled back, Tama and her two male friends had kept talking to catch up lost time. Kopa and Konde were at the front with Kichwa, Ubuvila and Ithunzi being in the middle. Tiredness was spread and written in all their faces and the whole group was dealing with being extremely tired.

Pride rock could be already seen and for the first time, the lions and lionesses were completely relaxed again. Tama gave away a quick roar to signal the others that they had returned. It didn't take long and the first heads appeared on the giant rocky castle. Chumvi and his family right away realized that it were Moyo and Akili qho as quickly as possible go down to the ground and dragged themselves over to their parents which they had been away for far too long. "MOM, DAD!" Akili shouted and she right away buried her faced into the chest of the older caramel lioness.

Chumvi for his part wrapped his front legs around Moyo as she began to cry into his shoulder. Their eyes met and the young adult began to stumble again. "I-Is, is it over?" She asked worried and hoping to receive the right answer.

Right then, Akili looked away from her mother and finally saw Ithunzi coming over to her. She could see the desire of the beige male to finally embrace the female in his front legs too. They met and for one of the fewer times, Kichwa's sister started to cry. "I'm sorry about your father." She said into his ear before Itshe's son replied.

"Don't be! In the end, he held no resemblance to the lion that I learned to know as being my father."

In the meantime, Kopa came climbing up the pathway to pride rock where he was greeted by Kiara, Kovu, Vitani and Rafiki. His sister smiled at him and he quickly returned the gesture before turning his face towards the old mandrill. "My parents?" He asked without hesitation getting right to the point.

But the monkey right away smirked and shook his head right away. "Don't worry! They're fine." He said and gave a wink towards the den. "Yur' friend in there is also fine by de' way!" He added and the golden furred prince sighed with a huge stone falling off from his heart.

"Thanks!" He said and yawned before turning his gaze to a small tree in the distance. All the fighting of the last hours and days demanded their tribute and Kopa began walking away towards it. Kiara and a Kovu followed him at once having no clue what their newfound family member was up to.

They stopped just as Kopa dropped underneath the tree and began resting his head in the grass. "Are you alright?" Kiara asked bringing her head down to the young male lion.

But he simply smirked and closed his eyes. "Kiara, I have been on edges for hours and weeks now." He said with a gentle yet weak voice. "For now, I want just to take a nice long nap." Without facing her gain, he settled himself down even more in the shade and was at sleep right away.

Kiara wanted to approach him right away but got hold back by Rafiki and Vitani putting a paw and hand on each of her shoulder. "Just let him rest for now." The tan female said and gave her an assuring smile. The golden/cream female let her ears hang for a moment before she nodded and returned back down with her mate.

She really would have loved to catch up with her lost brother and the life he had been living for the last years. But seeing how much he must have been through for the last days, she decided to let it rest and get the sleep he needed for now.

* * *

Kopa awoke in the afternoon and he immediately shook his head to get a glimpse of his surroundings. During the years of his life in the jungle, he had never been sleeping so peacefully and resting than this time. Without thinking, he got to his paws and began walking towards pride rock. Yet then again, it was a nice change to not having to be cautious during slumber. It certainly had to do with being back at his home.

For a few moments, he rested at a waterhole and took a drink beefier heading right back onto the ledge. But when he got there, he was surprised to find neither his sister, nor his brother and sister in law: A small glance to the side and he spotted Sabini and Nuru sitting together and having a chat. He quickly approached them and spoke up. "Hi!"

"Hello Kopa!" They both answered with a bit reserve in their voices. They were still not used to the fact of the lost prince being back together with them.

He stared around for a short moment before he began to ask again. "Uhm… have you seen my sister and Kovu around here?"

Both lionesses nodded and Sabini pointed to the top of pride rock. "They are up there." She said with wink upwards while Kopa followed her gaze and moved away from the duo.

It had been quite a while since he walked up this path the last time. But when he did, he was just a cub and even then it was only on time. He was wondering about what was going on top and why Kiara and Kovu had been sitting up there right at this moment. But he was going to find the answer pretty soon. By taking a finally heavy breath, he walked up and saw the same figures standing together that he met exactly this morning.

"Hey Kopa!" Kiara greeted him again and she came forth nuzzling the male on the head. She smiled at him and they departed before Kop did the same with Vitani before clapping the dark brown furred Kovu on the shoulder.

The golden furred prince stared into the round and right away was a bit unsettled by the scenery. "Alright, what is going on here?" he asked right away and caught the group completely off guard. Both Vitani and Kovu stared over at their friend and then at the acting queen who for her part looked up at Rafiki. He gave her a nod and she stared over to her brother. "Well uhm, we were just discussing if…" Kopa already knew where this was going but wanted to see what came out if this. "We were discussing the future of our pride and which one of us is going to rule it."

She made eye contact with her mate again and Kovu walked up to her before Kiara continued. "You know that you are the rightful heir to the throne!?" She saw the frown that appeared on Kopa's head and spoke up further. "And after the events that happened over the last weeks. We thought that it might be better if we continue on this path."

_Yepp, just as I thought! _Kopa said to himself and raised his shoulders again. Of course, he thought about becoming king before. After all, it was the one thing that he had always dreamed about. "Kiara, I have been around you for a day. And you already believe that I would make a better ruler than the two of you."

"You were the one that brought Ingelozi and Itshe down. The lionesses and the lions would be following you gladly." Kovu answered while Rafiki and Vitani kept staring at the two royals with amused faces.

But Kopa just shook his head and chuckled slightly. "Yeah right! You know, dad always told me that there is more to being a king than being strong and willing. And I presume that dad taught you more being a ruler than me!" he didn't want to be as sarcastic as he was right now. But even if he would have loved being a king, he felt that it was wrong for him to do it.

Kiara smirked and leaned her ears backwards. "After what happened over the last weeks, I'm not so sure if I want the crown and the throne anyway." She said with her voice getting sad and sorry. She thought about how the other lions and lionesses kept saying that they would never follow Kovu into battle again. The fact that Kopa had come back was something that kept her hope that the pride was no longer divided. "You were the one that saved us from splitting up."

But her brother was not quite sure about that. "But then again, there's more to being king than just being a shimmer of hope."

To the side, Vitani laughed out loud as she listened to the argument of the royal siblings. "Now that's refreshing for a change. Two siblings of a royal family that don't want to kill and screw each other over for the throne." She said and received some perplexed gazed from Kopa and Kiara.

The golden colored prince stared to the side and down the kingdom that lay on the feet of pride rock. He faced the ground and raised his head glaring into. "You know, I can't do it without the two of you. If you really want me to be king instead of you, I will not deny that. I mean… I always dreamed of becoming king but… that can only work if you two help me with this." He said giving his sister a pleading glare before Kiara smiled and nuzzled her brother once again.

Now, it was Rafiki's term to walk up and stare at the two siblings. The mandrill placed one hand each on their shoulders and began talking. "We bedder' get dis' done fast before he changes his mind again." He added and the group slowly walked down the path again. Rafiki with Kopa following behind. After him came Kiara and Kovu and finally Vitani.

Short after, the group caught Zazu and Kichu flying towards them from beyond. The two birds nodded towards the group and landed right beside Rafiki. Right after that, the old mandrill placed his hands on Kopa's shoulder before staring deeply into his eyes. "Are you ready?" He asked gently and caught the young prince glaring to the side.

"Not really but… what the devil!" He said and in some way mocked the way his old friend Mwehu usually said such things. By taking a short glare at the two major-domos and his sister. He began walking down the ledge until he reached the end.

In the back, Sabini and Nuru raised their head as they saw Kopa moving forward. Underneath, the group of Niyani, Naima and Tama stared up as well and began to smile. Nearly all the lionesses and the lions that could see them began to watch with great interest as the young adult was almost ready.

Kopa stared to the ground and thought about the last days and years and what he had been through. The last days that he spent with his parents, how he grew up in the jungle. And how he came back to be together with his family. Finally feeling the relief that came over him, Kopa inhaled deeply and began roaring. Like so many generations before him, the roar of the new king hailed through every part of the pride lands. The rest of the lionesses present returned the gesture and made sure that Kopa was accepted as their new king and ruler. After the first roar was finished, he began his second to finish the ceremony.

While the group present simply acknowledged the fact of Kopa being the new king, two pairs of eyes stared at the golden furred king with great pride. "Look Simba, that's your son up there!" Nala said gently nudging her mate on the shoulder to make him look up.

Simba eyed his son standing on the place where he took over the throne years ago and he began to smile as well. He didn't say anything and just enjoyed the moment. _I am so proud of you!_

As quickly as possible, the former king and queen walked before they were spotted by Kiara and the others. "DADDY!" She called out and ran straight towards the cream female and embracing her in a tight hug. "Am I glad to see you!" She added before Nala rubbed her chin against the top of her head.

It was in that moment that Kopa came walking up beside Kiara and the two stared at their parents with broad smiles. For the first time in their lives, the royal family was completely united. "Look at you two!" Simba said as he observed his two cubs with joy. "All grown up and proud leaders of a pride." He said and again, the new king didn't hesitate and embraced his father.

"Nala, Simba?"

They heard a voice and the two newcomers turned around and their eyes widened as they saw who was calling out their names. "K-Kula… Chumvi?" The creamy female said as she couldn't believe her eyes. But there she stood, the other one of her longest friends. "KULA!" She screamed and the two raced forward colliding with each other and connecting their foreheads like so many times before.

While the two shared their reunion and Simba greeting his old pal Chumvi, while keeping some distance between the two, Kopa glared to the side as he saw Mwehu and Konde standing in the mouth of the cave. The leopard gave the new king thumbs up while Mwehu just nodded approving. He noticed how the pale cream male was glaring with exhaustion and suppressed pain. Kopa returned the gesture with a nod and then got back to be with his family again.

* * *

Another pair of days passed and the Night broke over the kingdom. But while the rest of the animals kept staying in their homes. Parts of the pride of the freshly crowned king Kopa were still up and awake. The golden furred king and his sister along their friends sat just at the side of pride rock with Kichwa, his mate and his siblings on the other.

"We thank you for your help." Kiara said as she smiled over to the dark brown male that sat in front of them.

Her gazes met the eyes of the northlander princess Ubuvila who had her head resting on her mate's shoulder. "No problem, but it's us that have to thank you. Without you, we would have not been able to get back our home and save our parents. I just hope that there will be no more bad blood between the two kingdoms of us." Ubuvila replied with a smirk.

Kichwa and Kopa walked up to the middle and clapped their paws onto each other's shoulders. "You're going to be alright?" Kopa asked as the two males stared around and Kichwa watched his parents wandering through the plains in the distance.

"No problem, with Itshe and his followers being demoralized we can finally look forward to get the north lands back on track. It's going to be tough, but we can handle it." He looked down to his mate who hugged Kiara and Vitani for their farewell. "And what about you?" Kichwa asked then again waiting for the response of the new king of the pride lands.

Kopa laughed and then stared back at pride rock behind them. "As strange as it sounds, I don't envy you for the path that you have to go. If you need anything, I'm always there to talk." He added and the two wrapped one front leg around the other ones back for a farewell. With that, the northlanders gave their goodbyes to the pridelanders and then short after departed.

In the distance, there was another group of pridelanders sitting together at a waterhole. During their cubhood, Kula, Chumvi, Tojo and Malka had come very often to this point to relax. But never in their life has it ever felt that refreshing than on this evening. Tojo lied on the stone where he used to lie often in his early days, Malka and Tama lied underneath with the pale orange male rubbing his left front paw over the back of the tarnish/orange female. Beside them, Chumvi lied on his side and Kula resting her head on his back.

"You know, I really missed those days back when we were just cubs, It just feels like so long ago." Malka said in a dreamy voice and a small smile before gazing back on the caramel female. "What do you think Jo-jo?"

Tojo yawned before he out on a sly smirk. "Are you going to be like Simba too? For weeks, he did nothing else than to talk about how old he was and how he missing being young. Be careful that you don't end up like Simba II!" He warned his long time friend as they both heard a laugh coming from.

"Glad to know that some things never change!" He added with a chuckle and Malka as well as Tojo let their ears drop a little.

"A little bit of consistency in our lives might not b the worst right now. The whole group turned around as they heard yet another voice which was made out to come from former queen Nala. The creamy female supported the tired looking and constantly coughing Simba as they came walking over to the group.

Chumvi and Kula let their ears hang as they saw how dreadful their cubhood friend looked like and how it was going to end for him. The two former royals lied down in the round which they had been together with for most of their time (Simba excluded). "I never thought that the seven of us would ever see each other again in this combination." Chumvi added while the others greeted each other.

The only one that had kept herself out of their talk was Sabini who had her head down and continued to stare into the waters. But with the gang finally being complete again, she raised her head and spoke up. "He would have loved to be here with us!" She said and immediately, everyone knew that she was referring to Meethu.

They each dropped their heads and sorrowed for a short moment as they picked up another scent and turned their heads around. "Is there place for one more?" it came from the pale cream male called Mwehu as he came walking forth from behind a tree.

"Sure Why not?!" Malka called out while the scarred male lion approached the group and sat down in front of them with everybody staring at him.

he made eye contact with Tojo who put on a faked serious face and simply called out to him… "Scarface!"

"Birdboy!" He simply recalled before he lied down with pain basically screaming out of his face.

For a moment, nobody said a thing before it was Tama who broke the silence. "It's almost a miracle that we all have stayed so close with each other given the circumstances and obstacles we had to face for the last years. I mean… even Kula and Chumvi are here with us again." She added with a smile as the pridelanders stared over at their long lost friends.

"You're right for that part Tama. But I'm afraid that that won't last for long." Kula replied and could already hear Sabini and Malka asking why not. "Don't get us wrong guys, there's no other word to describe how happy we are feeling to see you again but… in some way, we are more northlanders than pridelanders right now. Our son is soon to become king and we have to be there to help manage all this stuff, besides helping to rebuild the kingdom that Ingelozi left behind."

Nearly everyone nodded their heads in agreement before Nala got back into the conversation. "I hope you do, I don't need another one of those stupid wars."

"I don't know what you are complaining about; I for my part had my fun." It came out of the sudden from Mwehu who shifted his body around while growling out again in pain.

If it wouldn't have been for Tama who put a paw in front of Sabini's chest, she would have gone forth and lecture the pale cream male how she has lost her mate and nearly everything she held dear. But for now, she just laid back down and let the other ones do the talking. "You have an easy talk, you are still in one piece, and others have lost more than what was necessary. Including me." Tama said and recalled the events around her mother.

Mwehu turned around under pain and his face showed some sign of honesty. "You might be right about that losing part. But me, I am not in one piece." He said and they all could see the questioning looks of the group. "Why do you think I came out here tonight? Not for the cuddly wuddly evening with you."

But Nala was already willing to bring this conversation into a different direction. "If I didn't know better by now, I would believe you. But then again, if you are still that coldhearted and nasty lion, why did you save my son and bring him back to the pride lands and help him become king?" She asked right away and the group stared at their scarred_ friend_.

"You know she's right!" Kula said and rolled over to eye the maneless male. "You are not such a bad guy. If only you could be a little nicer." Their eyes met and she could see the edges of his muzzle going up a little bit. "HA! I knew that there was a soft spot in you. Now would you _please_… just for once… show that you have a soft side." She urged him and the rest of the group listened carefully as they waited for the result.

With a loud sigh, Mwehu gazed upwards to the stars before he eyed Kula again. "Alright! There might be… a little… chance for me to… might seeing the possibility to… consider you as… some type of… distant… argh to hell with it. Yeah! I would call you friends." He finally said and the others began to laugh. Kula giggled and nuzzled him on the side with the pale cream one trying to escape right away.

Simba and Nala did the same with each other as they continued to stare at the sky. "The last months made me think. What are we going to leave behind when we are gone? What will they remember from us once our bodies have joined the circle of life?" He asked and then again Malka, Tojo and Chumvi stared down.

"Well… look around you Simba. We all leave behind a group of strong and independent children. Kopa and Kiara will rule the pridelands with care and wisdom. Kichwa will rule the northlands along with Ubuvila and his sisters. Nuru and Mto will soon found a family themselves and the others, I'm sure they will go their way." Nala answered as she rubbed the top of her head against her mate's cheek.

"And what do you think you will be remembered off?" Kula asked again to the scarred male who turned around again.

He sighed as he stopped on his back. "I hope that in some way, they'll forget the wrong that I've done. But I guess that is for those dudes up there to decide."

Tama and Sabini got to their feet and grinned into the round. "I'm sure they will reward you for what you've done." They said and stared at the pale cream male. But what they saw let the color leave their faces. Mwehu lied on the ground, completely motionless with his eyes closed and his muzzle turned into a smile. At once, Simba was at his side and felt his breath. "Is he…?" Sabini asked with a slight note of sadness in her voice.

The former king turned around and faced the pale golden female. He simply nodded which forced the rest to shake up and stare at the maneless lion.

"Wow, he wasn't lying!" Tama remarked as Malka came forth and placed a paw on Mwehu's head.

"May the great kings be with you." He said and the group stopped for a short moment to grieve for their newfound friend.

With that said, Kula and Chumvi spotted Kichwa and Ubuvila getting into motion and the two got right to their feet. "I guess that's our cue." The caramel female said and began giving their farewells to their friends. "We have to get back into our new/old/new home." She said and nuzzled Nala gently. Kichwa did the same with tama and Sabini before turning on the creamy female again.

"Take care Chummy!" Malka said before turning his attention towards Kula.

"Good luck!" Tojo said as he hugged the dark brown male tightly. Simba just stayed behind as he still kept his distance. After they finally said goddbye, the two slowly walked over to their children while keeping constant eye contact with the others of the group.

Once they were out of sight, Simba and Nala got to their feet as well, it took the golden male forever to get to his weak and shaky legs before Nala gave him a lick to encourage him. "I guess we should be on our way as well. " She said which caught the other lions by surprise. "We should be going and say farewell to Kopa and Kiara before we go."

Malka and Tojo were on their edges as they stared at their former king and queen. "What do you mean with _going_? Aren't you two staying here?"

But the glance that he received from the creamy female, he wanted to stop as Nala began. "Simba has only a few days left. we are going to spent the last days left together. Kopa and Kiara are going to be fine, you are going to be fine." She placed a paw on Malka's shoulder. "I will return as soon as…" She said with a heavy lying on her voice. Together, the two lions hugged and nuzzled their friends before moving towards pride rock to spent the last time as a whole family.

After all of them had left, Tojo stayed behind for a short moment and placed yet another paw on Mwehu#s forehead. "I know this comes a bit late but… I thank you for saving our pride and our families. I know that the two of us have not been in good terms for a long time. But I am glad you were on our side for most of the time. May you get the piece you deserve!" He said and followed his friends back towards pride rock.

_I dreamed I was missing. You were so scared_

Simba and Nala nuzzled their children as the two walked directly into the direction of the gorge, back into the jungle where they would the rest of the days of Simba's life. Both younger lions rested on of their heads onto the former queen's shoulder before she spoke out to them. "I'll see you when I come back." The let go of each other and Nala faced Kopa with a smirk. "Take good care of your sister." With that, the two walked into the as Kiara rested her head on Kopa's shoulder watching their parents and especially their father vanishing in the distance.

_But no one would listen. 'Cause no one else cared_

With the sun setting on the horizon, Kopa and Konde stormed through the plains as they saw the lifeless body of Mwehu lying in the grass. Kopa stopped right at his side and grabbed the scarred male's head with his front legs. A tear escaped the leopards muzzle while Kopa howled out in pain and sadness. In the distance, Vitani watched Kopa with sorrow.

_After my dreaming. I woke with this fear_

Yaki and Taikamu bowed down in front of Kopa as he placed paws on both backs of their heads, he spoke out to them and the rest of the pride being present which sealed the fact that the two lionesses were now full members of the pride lands. After the king was finished, Yaki got up and nuzzled Kopa gently while licking him on the cheek. He returned the gesture with a laugh while Vitani in the back turned away a bit upset.

_What am I leaving? When I'm done here?_

Together, Kopa and Konde along with Nuru and Mto stepped at the cliff of the Zuberi-River before the leopard and the new king shoved the dead body of Mwehu over the edge as he landed in the stream below and got washed away back to the jungle where he had lived for so long.

Forgetting all the hurt inside. You've learned to hide so well

In a small den at the side of pride rock, Mto began padding around nervously before he heard a loud scream and as quickly as possible ran inside. As he entered, he found Nuru lying on the ground with two small bundles of fur lying right beside her. He came forward very slowly and nudged the pale tarnish female on the head. "They're beautiful!" He said before licking her on the cheek.

"They are two females!" Nuru answered shortly before Mto got back into observing them. He could see both of them being of pale ochre color as Nuru raised her head again. "I thought of a few names. What do you think about Moja and Mbili?"

"One and two?"

"Why not?"

Mto went down and nuzzled Nuru gently before they glanced deeply into each other's eyes. "I love you!"

Pretending someone else can come and save me from myself

Kopa sat on top of pride rock as he felt a tear streaming down his face. Mwehu had been only for a short time, but he already missed him. The old and crazy lion had always been there for him. A short clearing of a throat made him turn around and he saw Yaki standing behind. She walked over to him carefully as the new king began to bury his face in her chest.

_I can't be who you are_

Just in that moment, Vitani came up from beneath and spotted the two of them nuzzling each other and standing dead on the spot. Without saying another word or waiting a second, she turned around and walked back down. Kopa watched her leave and an expression of sorry spread on his face, he quickly pulled away from Yaki before apologizing to the tarnish/cream female before chasing after Kovu's sister.

_When my time comes. Forget the wrong that I've done_

With Ubuvila and Chumvi walking in front, and their family and friends in the back, the group arrived at the place where the home of the kings of the north lands had laid for generations. Already, they could see numerous lions standing up and eyeing the newcomers with curious glances. The brown furred princess and the dark brown male gazed at each other before they began walking up to the top of king's hill.

_Help me leave behind some. Reasons to be missed_

Staring down on the group that waited for movement of the supposed king and queen, Ubuvila rubbed her forehead together with Kichwa before both began surveying the pride beyond and began to roar in order to show everybody that they were the new rulers of the north lands. Even Kwelanga and the last ones left that were following Ingelozi bowed down in front of the new rulers. Down below, Kula and Chumvi had the most pride filled faces once could ever think of.

Even Ithunzi's sister had put on one of her first smiles in weeks as she stood at the side of her son and stared up to the duo.

_And don't resent me. And when you're feeling empty, keep me in your memory  
_

A few days later, Kopa and his sister stood on the edge of pride rock along with Rafiki and Kicho. It was then that Zazu came flying in and landed right beside the black and white feathered pied. Zazu didn't waste any time before he bowed to the king and afterwards placing his right front wing on Kicho's shoulder. The two shook wings before the blue hornbill spread wings and flew away. It was the sign that he had given away his position towards the pied which he had trained for a long time now.

_Leave out all the rest, leave out all the rest_

Kopa and Kiara saw a creamy figure approaching pride rock from the east. It didn't take long before they realized who it was. As fast as they could, the two siblings raced towards their mother as they could see the tears and the sadness in her eyes. But the moment, they saw her two children approaching her, Nala's face lit up and she leaned back with both young lions tackling her to the ground and embracing her warm.

_Leave out all the rest, leave out all the rest_

* * *

Another night in the pride lands took place and once again, the two pairs of siblings sat together on the outside of the cave as they watched the moon shining bright on the land below. Kovu rested her head on Kiara while Kopa glanced into the distance on his new kingdom. Beside him was Vitani who lied on her stomach with her head resting on her paws and her gaze directed away from the others.

While the two former acting king and queen were set into a lifefull conversation, both Kopa and Vitani were stuck in their thought process. _I guess if I don't do it today, I'lll ever have the chance to do it again. _He thought and faced the tan female with the corner of his eye. He shifted his paws around slightly while being unable to shake the nervousness out of his paws.

Beside him, Vitani had the same thoughts yet a different approach of the matter. _If he would be, he would have addressed it by now. How silly could I be to think that he would choose me? When I think about it, I don't even wanna' be queen. _She thought again and noticed the movement at her side. Kiara and Kovu had sat up and began walking into the cave.

"We're going to sleep, are you two coming?" The dark brown male asked as he was half vanished inside.

Vitani stared at Kopa who was sunken in thought before he stared at the duo. "Just go ahead! I'll follow soon." He said and sat straight up still thinking hard. She got up and was about to follow her brother when she heard Kopa call out to her. "Vitani! Could you wait a moment?" He asked and Zira's daughter stopped in her tracks before turning around to her.

She quickly approached Kopa and sat back down in front of him. "What's wrong?" She asked concerned and with all honesty.

"Actually, not that much. I just wanted to say something." She was a bit nervous as she heard the golden king talk to her and she stared at him with even more curiosity. "When you glance to the inside of the cave, what do you see?"

Not only was she curious by now, but she was completely confused. What was he intending to get at. Seeing no point in speculating, she just gave up and answered. "I see a pride of lions sleeping." She answered dryly and turned back on the golden furred king in front of her.

"And do you see the plateau in the middle?"

_Stupid question! Of course I can see it. Everybody in this kingdom can see it. _"Yes, the place where the king sleeps. Where _you_ sleep actually! What about it?"

She noticed the sly smile on the face of her friend and it kinda unsettled her. Kopa walked over to her and smirked nasty. "Ever since I took my place on top of it, it feels a little bit too huge and wide for me. And then I realized that there is space for two up there." He was now walking back and forth in front of Vitani as he continued. "Do you have any idea who I should allow to rest along with me?"

"What the great kings do I know?! Why don't you…" She stopped at once as she realized what the young adult male was thinking about. "No!" She simply said with wide eyes. "No, no, no!" She continued and backed away from the golden furred lion.

"Why not?" Kopa asked and followed her.

Vitani began to shiver. "You don't want me as your queen! What about your girlfriend that you brought with you?"

Kopa found delight in the nervousness which he felt Vitani had gone into. "Yaki? Vitani, she is an awesome person, but I told her weeks ago that I don't see her as my girlfriend or my mate."

But the tan female wasn't so easily convinced. "Then what about any other one of the pride. The other lionesses are way more beautiful than me."

"Who says that?"

Kovu's sister stepped back more and more as she came in contact with a boulder and couldn't go further. "Come on Kopa! They all have much nicer and softer fur than I have."

"I'm not the kind of guy that is attracted by furs. Also I can't see anything being wrong with that fur. But besides… I am bit deeper than that."

"Their bodies are way healthier and stronger than mine. The years in the outlands made my body slim and boney."

"You have always been a bit skinnier than the others. I don't mind." He continued and closed in on the female.

Vitani stared to the side from left to right but didn't see a point in running away from him. "My face is really ugly; I have these black outlines around my eyes. And I have a hair tuft. Which lioness not to speak of a queen has a hair tuft?" She tried to make clear that she wasn't the queen to be type but saw the golden male now only being just a few inches away from her.

"Alright, then we will be called the ugliest royal couple that has ever been." Kopa simply answered and pointed with his paw towards the mark on his cheek.

Finally, Vitani lost it. "Alright, this is ridiculous! WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

"I want to you be my queen." He said simply and wanted the words to sink in her ears. "Please Tani, you were my only friend back when I was young. You were the one that has always been there for me." He got onto his back legs and placed both his front paws beside Vitani's head on the boulder and got his muzzle close to her ear. "So I ask you Vitani… do you want o be my mate and queen." He finally proposed and licked her on her cheek.

The touch of his tongue seemed to let Zira's daughter melt away as she turned her head and stared at the king. "You are really serious about this?!" She said and Kopa gave her one of his cutest grins. And that was when her resistance was broken. "Why in the world do you have to be so cute?" She giggled and went forth to nuzzle the golden male gently. "Alright, I accept… my king!" She said and the two shared their first moments together and girl and boyfriend.

After what seemed like an eternity, they let go of each other and Vitani began walking towards the cave with Kopa staying behind. "Are you coming or not?" She asked right away and turned around at the king still sitting on his spot.

"I'll come later, just go ahead and make yourself comfortable." He said before Vitani disappeared inside with a laugh. Kopa turned around and stared once again into the kingdom that belonged to him. He sighed out heavy and directed his gaze towards the stars.

"Speak your mind!" he heard someone say and turned around as his mother came from behind with a glad and proud smile.

The king thought again for a short moment before he answered. "I was wondering if I'm going to be a great king like dad was. With all what has happened and how I got this place, I don't know if I can make it."

But Nala just kept smiling and came over to her son. "Of course you will. You know that you are not alone right? Kiara is here, Kovu is here, Kicho and Rafiki are here. And most of all, I am here for you. If you need anything, come to me and I'm going to help you." She wrapped on front leg around him and hugged him gently. "Remember what your father always told you about the great kings?" Kopa nodded and Nala continued. "If we can't help you, your father will always be up there and guide you. Just remember that." She gave him a lick on the forehead before they both heard Konde coming up to them from the side.

"And if all that fails, you can rely on your old pal from the jungle." He said and Kopa began to laugh again.

Nala walked over to the cave leaving Kopa and Konde back on their own. "Good night son!"

"Night mom!" He turned around and faced Konde who was standing right beside him. "And where are you going to sleep tonight?" He asked slyly knowing that his long time friend had far more to do than sleeping.

Konde gave him a clap with the back of his front paw before grinning at him. "Not that much of sleep for me Kid. I just met this leopardess this morning. And I think I'm going to have a chat with her."

With that, he jumped down from the ledge and walked off into the distance. Kopa stared after him before facing the ground and chuckling to himself. Once again, he turned his head around his shoulder and stared to the inside of the cave. It was a fact now, he was the king and in there was his pride that he was going to take care of. Just like his father did. Kopa smiled to himself as he walked back inside. He was going to continue his father's legacy.

He… was his heir.

THE END

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**Author's note and Trivia: ** Song used at the end… "Linkin Park – leave out all the rest"

And that's it! After over a year, this is the end of the story I had to tell. And I must say… this was a blast. I hope every loosened up end that there was had been tied together and is solved after all. And of course that the time you took to read my story did not feel that wasted and that this story was worth it. Thanks again for everybody that read this story, wrote a comment or send me a PM. You were are really great.

At the end I want to give you some explanations for the decisions I made:

**Killing off Simba:** I felt the last scene with the friends and Mwehus's death as a nice contrast to the very first chapter in part one. We started this story with Simba's birth and Mwehu being a complete loner and jerk. So I found it accurate to end this story with Simba's and Mwehu's salvation to be a full member of a group. Not to mention that the title implies that the next generation was going to take over. Which it did with Kopa and Vitani.

**Deciding for the Vitani/Kopa pairing:** usually I didn't want to give Kopa a mate at the end. And for most of Part 3 I felt like bringing Yaki and Kopa together since the two shared some history and in some way could have bonded better then with Vitani. But in the end, Kopa should still have some problems coming back in the pride. And Vitani is like the link to getting back since… well… Kopa doesn't really know anybody of these guys.

That were the last things I had to explain, I will answer on comments of this last chapter with PM's.

As for the future… Will I do a Lion King fanfic again in the future?

For now… not really.

Basically, I think I am done. I did every cliché and known plot twist with everything that could be included in a story like this. We had jealous friends who turn into psychos, we had the rebel that turn into a good guy. We had our protagonists having everything, then losing it, then winning it backa again and so on. For now there's nothing that I could do to expand this anymore. Therefore there will be NO Part 4.

But then again, I actually thought a more episodic approach of a story. Something that Thatpersonyoumightknow does yet without the magic. The title would be going to be 'two and a half predators' and it would focus around Mwehu, Kopa and Konde living together with in the jungle (AU).

Yet then again, my next project will feature a treasure hunt, love, comedy, action and the most famous beard in the history of Playstation 3 gaming. ;)

Until then… thanks and see ya around.


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